CVLTIVATIOX AXD AXALTSIS OF PLAXTS. 



small, fancy ones should lu- kept in their pots and have just a little moisture, else the tuhers 

 are apt to perish from "dry rot"- and be entirely lost. The smaller \arieties are among 

 the prettiest marked foliage plants at our command, and are almost innumerable. Many 

 of them are so difficult to cultivate that few people can grow them successfully unless 

 under specially fevorable circumstances. There are, however, two or three pretty varie- 

 ties that will succeed well as common house planl>, aiul they can he pointed out by most 

 florists. 



VTEN used as a pretty natural ornament for the hair of some stately 

 queen of society or less pretentious belle, the Camellia has been very 

 generally admired for the rich, waxy appearance of its charming, 

 rose-like flowers. It is not \ery general in house cultivation, as the 

 idea seems to prevail that it is difficult for it to accommodate itself to 

 the circumstances surrounding other house plants. True, it does not 

 thrive in a dry atmosphere, as there its thick, green leaves are liable to the 

 attack of insects, but a little watchfulness would keep these away. It does not 

 require a high temperature, the average running from fifty to sixty degrees, 

 the lowest being at night. The best soil to use is good loam or peat. All 

 coarse manures are obnoxious to it. The plants are sometimes repotted just 

 before the young growth begins — say in February or Alarch; though the best time is 

 immediately after the flowering season. The buds of the Camellia are apt to be so 

 crowded that some must fall to make room for others to bloom ; and, as the stems are so 

 short as to endanger the cluster if it should be attempted to pinch out the superfluous ones 

 with the finger, a good method is to take a sharp knife or pair of scissors and clip off" the 

 upper half of the buds to be removed, or otherwise wound them, leaving the remaining 

 half-buds, which become sickly from the wound, and drop of their own accord. Growers 

 of large flowers only leave one or two to the branch. When in the bud they must not 

 suffer either from too much or too little water, as buds drop from both causes; deprivation 

 of water for two hours after it is due, or making the soil soaking wet, is equally disastrous 

 to the buds, and of coin'se cuts off all hope of flowers. The leaves and branches should 

 be frequently sponged or washed, but syringing is not recommended, as the foliage easily 

 becomes spotted; the soil and roots should be watered regularly once a day while the 

 lea^•es and buds are forming; and a little more water is needed when the buds are opening 

 into flowers. They require light, but should not be exposed to the direct rays of the sun, 

 as in their native woods they enjoy a natural shade through the surrounding trees. They 

 should be removed indoors early, as the slightest frost will nip the buds. After they have 

 flowered all winter they should be moved out in spring to some shady nook where the 

 strong sunlight will not strike them; a few hours of the morning sun, however, will not 

 prove injurious. From the seeds they bloom in three years. These plants can be also 

 budded, grafted and inarched with different varieties in the same manner as other shrubs. 



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