ON THE CAMELLIA AND ITS CULTURE. 373 



check. When the adhesion is solidified the ligature may 

 be withdrawn, the portion of the stock that has been left 

 till then may be cut away, and the stock or species is to 

 all intents converted into the variety we have laboured 

 to reproduce. The cultivation of these young plants is 

 henceforth the same as that of older plants. 



Propagation by budding may be followed successfully, 

 but as I do not consider that mode so eligible as graft- 

 ing for the Camellia, I need not occupy your time by 

 entering upon it. 



Propagation by inarching was much resorted to in 

 the olden times, and is a sure plan, and a capital one too, 

 if a few large plants instead of a greater number of small 

 ones are sought for. A good-sized branch of any favourite 

 variety may be united to the stem of any less valuable 

 kind in the same manner as in grafting, except that in 

 inarching the branch is not wholly detached until the 

 union is perfected. The two plants are set side by side, 

 a branch of the one is pared, laid, and bound on a pared 

 branch of the other, and when the union is complete (in 

 a few months) the two are separated, and the inarched 

 plant is treated subsequently as if it had been grafted. 



Propagation by seed is principally used to obtain new 

 varieties. Stocks for grafting on are also raised in this 

 manner, but I prefer those raised from cuttings of the 

 species which is of a known hardy constitution, whereas 

 seedlings are apt to vary much in that respect. The seed 

 should be sown as soon as ripe, for if stowed away and 

 allowed to dry the shell or exterior coating becomes so 

 hard that the process of germination is retarded and the 

 chance of a crop lessened. Sow in pans in peat or light 

 sandy loam, covering with the same soil to the depth of 

 I J inches where there is artificial ground heat. Keep the 

 soil regularly moist. When the germ pushes through the 

 soil, constant shade is indispensable. The seed is often 

 long in vegetating it has been known to lie dormant for 

 two years and the seedlings will not usually bloom until 



