22o 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



ANNA FOREST. 



ARNOLD'S PRIDE. 



bility of the bloom, It excels even the Queen 

 of Flowers. 



The Camellia is so hardy that it will live 

 In the open air in many parts of the South- 

 em States and in England. In cultivation 

 under glass, it will in a dormant state live 

 and thrive in any temperature above the 

 freezing point, and will take little or no 

 hurt it suljjected to three or four degrees of 

 frost. The plants will bloom freely in a 

 temperature of 40°, though 4.5° suits them 

 better. 



As a rule healthy Camellias produce 

 enough tliritty young shoots every year to 

 require no cutting back. If, however, there 

 be a lack of 'these, or it is desirable to im- 

 prove the form of the plant, there need be 

 no hesitation about cutting it back, for few 

 plants will bear the knife better than the 

 Camellia. The moment, or even l^efore the 

 late blooms fade, is the time for pruning. 



Few young leaves or shoots are more 

 tender and easily burned by the sun 

 than those the Camelial; scorching not 

 only disfigures the foliage, but also hinders 

 the formation of fine growth and the de- 

 velopment of flower buds. It is of the 

 utmost importance, therefore, that during 

 the growth of the tender leaves and young 

 shoots in their first stages, the plants should 

 be shaded from direct sunshine. 



During the season of growth the atmos- 

 phere should be kept moist by the surface 

 sprinkling of the greenhouse walks, stages 

 and walls, and the plants themselves should 

 be lightly syringed at least twice a day. If 

 the drainage of the plants is good it is hardly 

 possible to overwater them during this 

 period of wood-making. The atmosphere 

 may range from 50° to (a° during most of 

 this time. 



As the flower buds appear in sight, indi- 

 cating that the new wood is hardening, the 

 temperature may be allowed to become 

 lower again, say in the forties at night. The 

 plants now can hardly have too free a cir- 

 culation of air about them. A close and 

 arid atmosphere is one of the causes of that 

 greatest trouble with inexperienced Camel- 

 lia growers, namely, dropping of the flower 

 buds. 



Another frequent cause of buds dropping 

 arises from either too little or too much 

 water at the roots during the bud period in 

 summer. Seeing so many buds expanding 

 the grower too often rushes to the conclu- 

 sion that a good deal of water must be used 

 to fill them to bursting. On the other hand 

 a Camellia may suffer tortures from dryness 

 at the root, suflBcient to cause every bud to 

 drop— not immediately but before bloom— 

 and yet not show it by the leaves shriveling 

 as they would in a Rose or Geranium. 

 Camellia leaves never wilt, hence thus 

 never indicate suffering from dryness. 



It is wise to attend the thinning of the 

 buds when they have developed to a moder- 

 ate size, for many varieties — notably that 

 most useful of all varieties the Double White 

 —will often set out and swell five or ten 

 times more buds than it ought to be allowed 

 to carry. Nothing is gained, but a good 

 deal is lost by allowing so many flower I>uds 

 to be formed or partially developed. In 

 thinning the buds it is important to allow 

 some buds of all sizes to remain for the pur- 

 pose of extending the flowering over the 

 longest time possible. 



The best place for Camellias during the 

 summer is in a greenhouse rendered cool by 

 obscuring the glass with some kind of white 

 shade, giving a free circulation of air and 



wetting down the floors benches and wa lis 

 a number of times daily. 



Some difference ot opinion exists as to the 

 best time of repotting Camellias. In the 

 writer's opinion this is just before the plants 

 start into fresh growth. Under rather than 

 over potting suits the plants best. Perfect 

 drainage is one of the essentials. As to soil, 

 a good loam with some gritty sand and fer- 

 tilizing matter, either old rotten manure or 

 crushed bone, suits the plants well. When 

 good peat is available it is a capital ingredi- 

 ent to add. 



Under good cultivation the Camellia is 

 one of the cleanest of plants, but should it 

 ever be allowed to become infested with 

 bark scab it is diflScult to get rid of it. When 

 making their young growth mealy bugs and 

 aphis occasionally visit the young plants. 

 But the leaves once formed and about half 

 matured are too hard and leathery for such 

 insects, while they will bear scale being 

 rubbed off them with impunity. Really 

 well grown Camellias a rule, are wholly 

 free from insect pests, and their clean, dark, 

 glossy leaves are only of secondary beauty 

 to their brilliant, exquisitely formed and 

 many colored flowers. 



Notes from the Popular Gardenlngr 



Grounds at La Salle-on-the- 



Niagara. 



The Strawbebhies. A warm and wet winter 

 which had been qmte hard on some of our var- 

 ieties, killing every plant in some instances by 

 heaving where the stand was thin, and badly 

 damaging and weakening some others, so that 

 we were deprived of the chance of watching the 

 perfect development of <iuitc a number of varie- 

 ties, both old and new, was followed by a spring 

 with plenty of water, and just right to bring out 



BRIGHT IDEA. 



ITASCA. 



