384 THE CAMELLIA. 



There are also already in existence some single and 

 semi-double varieties of C. japonica which are characterised 

 by the prodigious quantity of flowers they produce, and 

 there is room for improvement here by extending the 

 range and introducing intermediate tints of colour. The 

 cultivator who stands by hard and fast lines might pro- 

 bably look coldly on such kinds, but they have their 

 admirers, and they certainly are gorgeous objects from 

 the wonderful profusion of bloom they produce. The old 

 Corallina with its blood-red flowers, and Tricolor, white 

 flaked with crimson, are examples of these, and few of the 

 more exact flowers produce anything like the effect of 

 these, whether grown in pots or tubs, or planted out in 

 the conservatory. 



In writing on the improvement of the Camellia by 

 raising seedlings from artificially-fertilised flowers, while 

 paying first and due regard to the shape, substance, and 

 colours of the flowers, it would be a great mistake to over- 

 look the constitution and habit of the plant This is 

 unquestionably a point of vital importance, and the im- 

 prover who does not pay due regard to it only half does 

 his work. However beautiful a flower may be, if the habit 

 of the plant is inelegant or the constitution feeble, the 

 pleasure derived from its cultivation is considerably 

 lessened. 



When fertilising artificially with the object of raising 

 improved varieties no flowers should be used except such 

 as are the most perfect of their kind, and on one side or 

 the other the habit should be comely, and the constitution 

 sound. 



Proceeding upon these grounds, there opens before us 

 almost an unbounded field for the variation and ameliora- 

 tion of the Camellia. Former labourers have but broken 

 up the ground, and the rich harvest they have obtained 

 augurs well for the results of higher and more extended 

 cultivation. To particularise, there is the variety known as 

 Mathotiana, perhaps the finest in flower of all the crimsons, 



