AND CONSERVATORT. 173 



When camellias become sickly a portion of the old soil 

 should be removed, and the plants repotted in the same sized 

 pot again, filling in with fresh soil. If it can be managed, the 

 pots should be partially plunged in a bottom-heat of 70°. 

 The best time for shifting healthy plants into larger pots is 

 just after they have completed their growth, and a few weeks 

 before they are placed out of doors. They must not be dis- 

 turbed materially at the roots, or a large portion of the buds 

 will probably drop oft". AVeakly plants, or those that are leggy 

 and require cutting back, should be taken in hand just as the 

 young growth begins to push. After the branches are pruned 

 in, the plants should be frequently syringed, and then, when 

 the young growth is about half an inch in length, the plants 

 should be repotted, much of the old soil being removed from 

 the roots. After this, they should be kept close until the 

 young roots begin to take hold of the fresh soil. After a 

 gradual hardening off, they can be turned out of doors for 

 the summer, along with the others. All the plants ought to be 

 examined every spring, and any shoots inclined to grow strag- 

 gling cut in. By this simple method they are always hand- 

 somely shaped, without the harsh necessity of a grand cutting 

 back every three or four years, which can only be done at 

 the expense of a season's bloom. After the flowers are over 

 in the spring, a moderate syringing overhead will keep the 

 foliage fresh and clean. 



The most common complaint of the amateur camellia 

 grower is, that just when the plants should be coming into 

 flower the buds drop unopened and the work of a season is 

 lost. The beginner must be prepared for this ; and moreover, 

 must be prepared to be told that the shedding of the buds is 

 due to mismanagement. Between the completion of the 

 new growth and the opening of the flowers, camellias are, we 

 say, " at rest." The term is perhaps misleading, for to the 

 uninitiated it conveys the idea that neglect will do no harm, 

 and hence it happens that, in the later days of summer, camellias 

 are allowed to go dust dry. It may be that sufficient rain 

 cccurs to wet the surface of the soil for a couple of inches in 

 depth, no trouble being taken to examine and sound each indi- 

 vidual pot, to ascertain if the soil is wet quite through. The 

 leaves, from their leathery texture, show no signs of the 

 suffering the plants are undergoing until matters become des- 

 perate. If the watering-can comes to their relief before the 



