THE PARLOR GARDENER. 85 



camellia in its native country being a sturdy tree, 

 of a very robust temperament, which it partly 

 preserves in the conservatories of Europe and 

 America. If it should ever happen to you to 

 make a pleasure trip to Japan, it might so hap- 

 pen to any body, you would see that, although 

 the camellia is a sacred tree, which they plant 

 round the temples, while its flowers are used in 

 making garlands for religious festivals, they treat 

 it in other respects with but little ceremony. 

 You would see entire woods of them, of great 

 extent, where every camellia is trimmed up to a 

 single stem, as straight as a hop-pole. Do you 

 know what they do when these camellias are of 

 an age to be cut down ? They make of them, 

 ladies, simply handles for brooms, or spades, or 

 other utensils ; they are intended for nothing else. 

 Do not expect, in going to Japan, the country 

 of the camellia, to see this charming shrub such 

 as you see it here. The Japanese gardeners do 

 not trouble themselves much in bringing it to 

 perfection. Your camellias, that you have reared 

 from slips and grafted with your own hands, 

 might serve as models to those that figure in the 

 gardens of the Emperor of Japan. 



