ON THJJ CULTURE Or THE CAMELLIA. 53 



seed pods before that time. The following sorts are the freest 

 seeders of any that I am acquainted with, viz. : — Carnea, anemo- 

 neflora, semiduptex, variabilis, Chandlerii, insignis, pcconijiora, 

 Pomponia, and all the single flowering sorts. The seeds should 

 he sown a few days after being gathered, in any of the above men- 

 tioned composts, and placed on a shelf in a pine or plant stove, 

 and kept moderately moist ; they will begin to appear in six weeks, 

 and in the course of three months, will be mostly all above ground ; 

 they will be ready to be potted off singly, into small pots, the fol- 

 lowing August. 



Cuttings. — The single red Camellia is propagated by cuttings, 

 and on them the other sorts are inarched, and sometimes grafted, 

 or budded ; I consider August to be the best time to put in cut- 

 tings, but they may be put in at any time except when making 

 young wood. The cuttings are formed of ripened, or ripening, 

 young wood, cut smooth])' across at a bud or joint, • two or three 

 of the lower leaves are only taken off. The cuttings are then 

 made firm with a small dibber, in well drained pots of sand and 

 loam, or sand alone, and placed in a cool shady place for a week 

 or two, and then plunged to the brims in a gentle hot-bed frame, 

 or bark pit, under a hand-glass; when they have struck root they 

 are potted off singly into small pots, in either of the above mentioned 

 composts and again placed in a gentle hot-bed frame for two or 

 three weeks, after which they may be placed along with the general 

 collection. 



Lvakching. — This is the surest and most generally adopted 

 method of increasing new and desirable sorts. As to the proper 

 season for inarching, the spring is the best, and just about the 

 time when the plants have burst their wood buds. This state of 

 vegetation does not always take place at precisely the same time, 

 as some cultivators force their Camellias very early ; such, there- 

 fore, should be operated upon not by the exact period of the year, 

 but by the state of the plants; some will be fit for the operation as 

 early as January, others as late as May. The slocks require to 

 be about the same forwardness as the plants to be inarched from ; 

 they are prepared by taking of a thin slice off one side, just merely 

 to remove a small portion of the wood ; the scion is prepared in 

 like manner. The process of tongucing should be dispensed with, 

 ns it tends to weaken both stock and scion, and is no benefit to 



