16 Observations on the Camellia. 



The best season for shiftiii'j; the plants is about the first of March ; 

 and wliich should be done by turning them out of the pots, carefully 

 pricking, with a sharp stick, a little of tlie soil from the old ball, and 

 repotting them in a pot a size larger than the one from which they 

 were removed ; especial care being taken not to injure the young 

 fibres of the roots, and also to give the pots good drainage. There 

 are various methods of increasing the Camellia, such as by seeds, 

 layers, inarching, grafting, budding and cuttings. The surest and 

 most expeditious of which is by inarching, aud should be performed 

 earlv in March, just before the plants commence making their spring 

 grow'th, in the following manner: — Select a healthy young plant, of 

 the Single Red, or any free growing variety, as near the size of the 

 scion you intend to affix to it as possible ; next, find a smooth place, 

 and free from leaves in both, and adjust the plants so that they may 

 approach each other at the point desired ; then, pare away the half 

 of eitlier stock, fitting them together so exactly, that the inner rinds 

 of both the barks may meet ; bind them firmly together with bass 

 matting, or coarse woollen yarn; cover the wounded parts with a 

 coating of clay, and over this another of moss, to exclude the air ; for 

 on this, I have found, depends in a great measiu'e the success of the 

 operation. In ten or twelve weeks the inarching may be cut from 

 the parent plant, and the union, if ever, will have taken place ; at 

 which time, the stock must be cut down to where the parts unite, 

 and the plants, for a few days placed in a close frame. 



Grafting or budding are seldom resorted to in this country or else- 

 where, and never except to increase new and high cost varieties; the 

 process being at best but a tedious one, requiring a long time to make 

 good plants. 



The increasing by layers is not at all convenient, as the plant must 

 be placed in a frame for the purpose, and protected from the frost 

 during the winter, it requiring more than one season for them to root 

 sufficiently to be separated from the stool. The Camellia may be 

 grown from cuttings, the Single Red and Middlemist being the easiest 

 to strike, and the Double Wjiite and Myrtle-leaved the most difficult;, 

 but the plants procured in this manner are much more beautiful in 

 their shape, and prolific in their blossoms. As an example, I might 

 mention a Double White, raised about fifteen years since, from a 

 cutting, by the late lamented Dr. Dixwell, of this city, upon; which 

 I counted, the last season, more than two hundred, and the present, 

 more than three hundred flower buds. Cuttings may be put in at 

 any season of the year, when the plants are not in a growing state ; 

 but the best time is in the autumn, when the young wood is becom- 

 ing ripe, and should be performed in the following manner: — Cut 

 them smoothly across at the joint, between the old and new wood, 

 and plant them firmly in pots, well drained, of pure river sand ; cov- 

 ■ering them with bell-glasses, keeping them moderately moist, and 

 placing them in the shade. In from four to six months, they usually 



