SPECIMEN CAMELLIA. 



20 1 



Fig. 2314. Cameli lA. 



SPECIMEN CAMELLIA. 



BY W. H. HUNT, HAMILTON, ONT. 



•HE accompanying cut from a photo- 

 graph of a splendid specimen of 

 these almost forgotten greenhouse 

 shrubs will no doubt interest most readers 

 of the Horticulturist, more especially those 

 who have seen these plants in conser- 

 vatories and greenhouses in the old land. 

 There are few even of the smallest specimens 

 of the Camellia to be found amongst our 

 plant collections of the present day. 



Very few plant lovers have been success- 

 ful in their culture in Canada, three or four 

 years of a gradual declining existence being 

 as a rule the outcome of any attempt to 

 grow these natives of Japan and China. 

 Mr. Thos. Kilvington, the well-known Ham- 

 ilton florist, has certainly overcome the 

 difficulties usually experienced in the suc- 

 ful culture of the Camellia. The plant, as 

 shown in the engraving, is really a noble 

 specimen and can be seen at any time in his 

 greenhouses. It is seldom that it can be 

 found without a few buds or blossoms of its 



beautifully imbricated rose-colored flowers, 

 its flowering season usually extending from 

 September until well on to June or July of 

 the following year. It was planted in its 

 present position by Mr. Kilvington about 

 eighteen years ago and has produced annu- 

 ally, for ten or twelve years past, about two 

 hundred and fifty blossoms. It is planted 

 in an open border, in a lean-to house, having 

 an east aspect. The border is about two 

 feet six inches in depth and about three 

 feet in width, so that it has plenty of root 

 room as well as allowing facilities for an 

 abundant supply of water at the roots. 

 This latter condition is probably the princi- 

 pal factor in its successful culture. It en- 

 dures a very variable temperature during the 

 year from 50° in winter to 120° in the hot- 

 test days of summer. 



The plant is about six feet in height and 

 three or four feet through the densest part 

 of the plant, and but for a severe annual 

 pruning that it receives, it would, as its 



