THE PARLOR GARDENER. 49 



Management of Camellias. 

 When you buy your camellia it should be full 

 of buds that have attained to about half their size. 

 If there are too many buds, above all, if there are 

 two or three in a bunch close together, you must 

 not hesitate to sacrifice a portion of them. But, 

 as the very short stem by which the flower bud 

 of the camellia is attached to the branch, is pre- 

 cisely the most delicate part of it, unless you 

 observe great caution in detaching the superfluous 

 ones, all will fall, one after the other, and you will 

 not obtain a single flower. Happily, it is easy to 

 avoid this annoying result. With a very sharp 

 penknife, cut off, horizontally, the upper half of 

 the buds which you do not wish to preserve, 

 taking care to shake the plant as little as possible, 

 and especially not to touch the bud stems. The 

 remaining half of those buds will very soon fall of 

 itself, without occasioning the fall of the entire 

 buds. These will bloom perfectly a month or two 

 later. Moreover, take care not to water your 

 camellia with water that is too cold. This in- 

 junction is so important, that I am not afraid of 

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