CHAPTER XXXVI. 



HOW LONG CAMELLIA FLOWERS WILL KEEP AFTER BE- 

 ING CUT FROM THE BUSH. 



A QUESTION which is often asked, is how long will 

 Camellia flowers keep after being cut from the bush. 



My flowers are cut every morning and laid on damp 

 moss in boxes in a dark place, where the thermometer 

 does not get above fifty degrees. 



Some days I only cut fifty flowers, other days from 

 three to five hundred. 



Flowers will keep ten days or two weeks, if the direc- 

 tions are followed. 



Give the flowers a light sprinkle of clear water at 

 night, this will revive them and strengthen their petals. 



Water will not injure the flowers. 



Those flowers that I ship to a distance are pulled fresh 

 and packed the same day. 



I number and date my boxes when the flowers were 

 cut from the plants, in order to use first those flowers con- 

 tained in the box of the earliest date. 



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