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JOTJENAL OF HORTICULTURE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 25, 1867. 



— No. 1, a Bean almost globular, and in size and colour re- 

 aembliiiK the largest, smooth, white garden Pea. No. 2, are 

 seeds of a Phaseolus, and they resemble very closely those of 

 a liver-coloured black-speckled Dwarf Kidney Bean. No. 3, 

 are also, we think, seeds of a pygmy Dwarf Kidney Bean, or 

 some genus nearly allied to Phaseolus. They are rather larger 

 than Laburnum seeds, and dun-coloured. We recommend 

 those of our readers who have hothouses or warm greenhouses 

 to avail themselves of Mr. Martin's offer. The plants may 

 prove as hardy as our Kidney Beans. We suspect that like 

 similar legumes in India, the seeds are cultivated for the oil 

 they produce. — Eds.] 



SOIL AND TREATMENT FOR CAMELLIAS. 



I HAVE read the accounts of the various methods of cultivating 

 the Camellia given since Mr. Pearson told us that the best soil 

 to grow it in is fresh turfy loam pared off the surface of the 

 field and used on the day it is cut ; and I am very glad, 

 although I was doubtful of it at the time, that such a simple 

 method seems to grow the plant so successfully. 



Camellias are indispensable for the decoration of the green- 

 house and conservatory, and almost every owner of a glass 

 structure likes to have a few of them ; but we do not always 

 find them in a thriving condition. 



In the Journal of April 4th Mr. J. Harris says Camellias 

 are semi-aquatics, and that he cannot obtain bloom if he uses 

 loam in the soil. 1 will relate my experience with them, and 

 detail the mode of treatment by which I have found them 

 succeed best. 



The first Camellias I had under my charge were grown in a 

 small greenhoiise of the half-span description and facing the 

 ■west ; a stage all round the house and a table in the centre 

 completed the internal arrangement, and on the back stage the 

 Camellias used to be placed during the growing season. The 

 only soil that could be obtained was peat earth. The soil of 

 the small heaps which the moles threw up as they burrowed 

 tmderground was collected, brought home, and used at once ; 

 and in this the plants grew very satisfactorily, making beauti- 

 f al dark green foliage, but producing only a moderate quantity 

 of bloom. 



My next experience was with plants grown in turfy loam 

 not fresh cut, but they did not succeed so well in this as those 

 previously noticed. The foliage was of a lighter green, and 

 ■when the plants were turned out of the pots the roots had not 

 the same healthy appearance. They made their growth in a 

 lean-to vinery, and were not, I think, effectually shaded from 

 the direct rays of the sun. Shading is of great importance in 

 the cultivation of the Camellia. I always shade the plants 

 after the 1st of April ; those in the greenhouse are shaded to 

 prolong the bloom, and those making their gi'owth to prevent 

 the leaves from being blistered or burned, and consequently 

 rendered unsightly. The shading used is of the lightest de- 

 scription — No. 1 tiflany ; it is to be obtained in pieces 20 yards 

 long and 38 inches wide, at 7s. or 8s. per piece. 



Part of the collection here has been moved to the second 

 ■vinery, which has been lately started, where the plants have a 

 temperature of 55° at night, and the remainder are also placed 

 there as they finish blooming. They are syringed twice a-day, 

 at 6 A.M. and at 3 r.si. ; in bright sunshine they are dewed 

 overhead two or three times in the course of the day ; under 

 this treatment they grow freely. 



As soon as the buds are set the plants are taken to the pot- 

 ting-shed, and those that require potting are potted ; the soil 

 I now use for this purpose is two parts turfy peat and one part 

 yellow loam, with some silver sand and broken charcoal mixed 

 ■with it. 1 have used crushed bones, cow and other manure ; 

 but I never do so now, as I find the plants succeed better with- 

 out the addition of manure. I never even water them with 

 manure water. 



I used to shift the smaller-sized plants every year ; but I 

 found such sorts as Henri Favi-e, Jubilee, Mathotiana, and 

 some others, did not open their flower-buds. These being very 

 hard at the time of opening, the inner petals in trying to ex- 

 pand burst and split the outer ones, and none of the flowers 

 opened properly. This occurred in two successive seasons ; 

 but last summer I did not shift any of the varieties having 

 this fault, and this season all the above have opened their 

 flowers to perfection. If the drainage is all right Camellias 

 will flower better in the second year after they are potted than 

 they win in the first. I rarely find the drainage of my plants 



defective, as I never set them out of doors ; consequently they 

 are never at any time drenched with rain, and worms cannot 

 find their way into the pots. 



Camellias require more water while making their growth 

 then they do at other times ; but even then I am careful not 

 to water them until they actually want it, and I may here state 

 that over-dryness at the roots is quite as injurious as too much 

 water. 



Camellias, like other plants, require attention, and those 

 who wish to grow them well must attend to them every month 

 in the year ; inattention to watering will cause the flower-buds 

 to drop, and if the plants are not shaded from the direct rays 

 of the sun the foliage will be rendered unsightly. I generally 

 have to thin out two-thirds of the flower-buds. My plants 

 were never better here than they have been this season, grown 

 in the compost and treated as I have described. — J. Douglas. 



ROSES AND OTHER FLORISTS' FLOWERS 



AT THE F.OYAL IIORTICULTUBAL SOCIETY'S SHOW. 



Anything more wretched, each in its way, than the Society's 

 two Spring Show days this season it is well nigh impossible to 

 imagine. More 's the pity, for more creditable exhibitions 

 could not well be imagined for so dreary and gloomy a winter 

 as it has been. Eoses especially were wonderful, and in some of 

 the collections the very ne plus ultra of growth. Take, for 

 instance, those with which Mr. Turner gained the first prize 

 for nine ; they comprised Souvenir de la Malmaison, this was 

 not up to the mark ; Madame Falcot, a magnificent plant, with 

 every bloom just in its perfection ; General Jacqueminot ; Sou- 

 venir d'un Ami ; Celine Forestier, the best pot specimen of 

 this not-very-free-flowering Noisette that I have ever seen; 

 Vicomte Vigier, good ; Senateur Vaisse, very fine ; Charles 

 Lawson ; and a splendid plant of Baron Adolphe de Rothschild. 

 Mr. Wm. Paul had Victor Verdier, Madame Villermoz, Mrs. 

 Wm. Paul, Jean Goujou, loose ; Anna Alexieff, Madame de 

 Stella, Celine Forestier, Gabriel de Peyronny, and John Hopper. 

 Messrs. Paul & Son were third with Comtesse Cecile de Cha- 

 brUlant, Lord Clyde, fine ; Madame Wood, Alba Eosa. Charles 

 Lawson, Souvenir d'un Ami, Madame Villermoz, Senateur 

 Vaisse, and Anna Alexieff. 



For new Eoses of 1865 and 1866 Mr. Wm. Paul was first with 

 Alfred Colomb, a fine flower ; Alba Mutabilis, loose ; President 

 Mas, thin ; Madame Eousset ; Mademoiselle Marie Eody, a 

 splendid Rose ; Mademoiselle Berthe LevCque ; Elizabeth Vig- 

 neron, rough ; Fisher Holmes, bright but thin ; Pline, thin ; 

 Comte Alphonse de Serenye, large, loose ; and Slademoiselle 

 F,ugenie Appert. Mr. Charles Turner was second with Duchesse 

 de Caylus, very fine ; Elizabeth Vigneron ; Charles Wood, fine ; 

 Mademoiselle Marguerite Dombrain, Marguerite de St. Amand, 

 Madame Eugi'ne Appert, Aurore BorOale, good ; Alba Mutabilis, 

 Marechal Niel, very fine ; Dr. Andry, very fine ; Camihe Ber- 

 nardin, very fine ; Exposition de Brie, very fine. Messrs. Paul 

 and Son had Josephine Eeauharnais, very fine ; Alfred Colomb, 

 fine ; Princess Mary of Cambridge, good ; Pline, thin and 

 rough ; Mademoiselle Marguerite Dombrain ; Jean Lambert, 

 good ; Charles Eouillard, Elizabeth Vigneron, Mademoiselle 

 Berthe Levcque, Madame FULion, good; Madame Moreau; 

 Marfichal Niel, very fine. 



For single specimens Mr. Wm. Paul was first with a nice 

 plant of Madame Alfred de Rougemont ; Mr. Turner second 

 with Francois Lacharme. Of Amateurs Mr. James was the 

 only exhibitor with small plants of Madame Falcot, Jules Mar- 

 gottin, John Hopper, Anna de Diesbach, Souvenir d'un Ami, 

 and Victor Verdier. 



Judging from the plants exhibited, the following are the beat 

 of last year's Eoses : — Amongst dark-coloured flowers, Alfred 

 Colomb, Exposition de Brie, and Madame Marie Eody ; of 

 rose-colom-ed varieties, Josephine Eeauharnais, and MdUe. 

 Marguerite Dombrain ; and of yellows, Marechal Niel. Messrs. 

 Lane, of Berkhampstead, did an act of kindness to Rose-growers 

 by exhibiting some plants of many of the new varieties. Grown 

 as they were and forced hard, it is impossible almost to judge 

 of the merits of Roses ; but as all were subject to the same 

 conditions one could just judge comparatively, and unquestion- 

 ably my supposition that Antoine Ducher would prove to be one 

 of the best Roses, if not the very best Rose of the year, is justi- 

 fied by the plants exhibited. It was by far the best— a large- 

 petaUed flower of great substance, and of a good fresh colour. 

 Bouton d'Or and Madame Margottin amongst Teas promised 

 well, and so did Gloire de Montplaisir, H.P., Madeleine Nooin, 



