78 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



be presumed to diminish or destroy the fertility of the small quan- 

 tity of earth allotted to each plant ; therefore when the annual 

 repotting occurs, carefully take away as much of the former ball of 

 earth as can be done without injuring or cutting the roots. The 

 Camellia may be considered as a hardy greenhouse plant, requiring 

 only a slight protection in severe weather, like the myrtle; and if 

 the plants are kept just above the freezing-point, they will succeed 

 much better than when grown in a higher temperature. 



At the time they are making their growth, an increase of heat 

 will be advantageous. The usual methods of propagation are by 

 inarching or grafting and budding on the single red Camellia, 

 cuttings of which are found to strike root more readily than of the 

 double varieties. The cuttings are taken in July and August, or as 

 soon as the voung shoots are sufficiently ripe at the base. They are 

 carefully prepared by being cut smoothly over with a sharp knife at 

 a joint, and divested of one or two leaves at the bottom, and then 

 planted firmly about two inches deep in pots filled with the Camellia 

 compost before described, and the upper half with fine white sand. 

 They are then well watered, and the plants plunged in a tan-bed 

 which gives out a gentle warmth, and kept closely shaded for three 

 or four months, by which time short fibres, or a callus from which 

 they afterwards diverge, are produced. AA'hen sufficiently rooted to 

 bear removal, they are potted singly in smalt pots, the sand being 

 then carefully removed ; the pots should be well drained, and filled 

 with the Camellia compost, with the addition of a little white sand. 

 They are afterwards to be sprinkled with water, and placed in a 

 close frame or pit until they begin to root afresh, and by degrees 

 exposed to the air. The succeeding season they may be potted in 

 the same soil as the other Camellias and similarly treated, aud many 

 of the plants will then have attained sufficient size and strength for 

 inarching; or budding, and all of them by the following season. 



The best time for inarching is early in the spring, just before the 

 plants begin to grow ; and for budding, as soon as the new wood is 

 sufficiently ripened, but it may be done at almost any season of 

 the year. 



The Coiobado Potato Beetle. — In order to prevent the introduction of 

 the Colorado potato beetle amongst potatoes imported from the United Sta f es or 

 Canada, instructions have been issued to the collectors of custom^ at the various 

 ports of the United Kingdom that custom-house officers are to 1 >ok out for the 

 beetle on board vessels, wharves, quays, sheds, or packages landed from vessels, 

 and instantly destroy it. To aid them in identifying the beetle a lithographed 

 sketch and description of it have been forwarded. The colour of the insect is 

 yellow, with b ack spots on the fore part, and ten black stripes, five on each of 

 the wing covers. It is somewhat like a large ladybird, bit is rather longer in 

 shape, and is also striped, a peculiarity which is absent in all spejies of ladybirt's. 



