352 LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS. 



either character is the problem. If we wish to retain the 

 green character we nip off all the variegated leaves ; if we 

 wish to retain the variegated character we nip off all the 

 green leaves from time to time as they appear, till the 

 plant produces leaves of one character only. It is the 

 same with the Aucubas. The green-leaved variety is the 

 normal form ; the variegated kinds are sports, either from 

 branches or from seeds. This is, in brief, the process that 

 has been worked out in all cultivated plants where leaves 

 or flowers show a wide divergence from the normal form. 



The Camellia is a native of China, a country which has 

 supplied us with many of our richest horticultural treasures. 

 The type of our modern Camellias is a plant with small 

 single red flowers, in which the yellow stamens are 

 pleasingly conspicuous. There are now many hundred 

 double sorts, some few of which have been introduced at 

 various times from China, but the majority have been 

 raised from seed in Italy, France, Belgium, England, and 

 America. Most of the double Camellias are grafted on 

 the single red or type, which is found to strike easily from 

 cuttings placed in a cold pit in sandy soil in the autumn. 

 The grafting is usually performed late in summer, the stocks 

 chosen being two years old. The soil in which Camellias 

 appear to grow best is rough loamy peat with a plentiful 

 admixture of sand. The process of re-potting should take 

 place in summer, when the new growth is pretty well matured 

 and the flower-buds about the size of a French Bean. When 

 potting thorough drainage should be secured. Now, 

 although the plant is nearly hardy, successfully resisting 

 several degrees of frost, it is not well suited for the open 

 air in our climate on account of the cold and uncertainty 

 of the English spring. Spring is its season of growth, 

 and it then requires a high temperature to induce a vigor- 

 ous and well-matured growth. At this time, when bloom- 

 ing and growing, a plentiful supply of water should be 

 given, but at all other times, especially in autumn and 

 early winter, water should be given but sparingly. The 



