The Culture of the Camellia. 209 



March, against any competitor ; not for extent, certainly, but 

 for glossy, dark luxuriance, and the vast amount of well fed 

 blossom buds, which appear, at first sight, like a profuse crop 

 of nuts ; the leaves, too, being so very dark, as fairly to 

 shame the most healthy Portugal laurel. I name this, 

 merely to induce the reader to place some confidence in the 

 mode of culture I am about to explain. 



For the successful culture of the camellia for winter flow- 

 ering, it is absolutely essential that this forcing into wood 

 take place very early in the spring. It is obvious, therefore, 

 that camellias blossoming in April or May, are not eligible ; 

 such, however, are needed in some establishments, but our 

 business lies with the winter flowerers ; nevertheless, the 

 same principles will apply to all seasons, a slight allowance 

 being made for the intensit)/- of light peculiar to the summer, 

 of which more in our concluding remarks. 



If I were required to select plants, for the future winter's 

 flowering, soon after Christmas, I should take those which 

 had blossomed in the course of December ; this is a narrow 

 footing, but I give it in the way of illustration. Such, then, 

 having ceased blossoming, or nearly so, I should remove 

 from the ordinary conservatory or sitting-room, to a cool pit 

 or frame, or to the shady and cool part of an ordinary green- 

 house. And why ? There is always a trifling amount of 

 exhaustion, consequent on the free blooming of the camellia ; 

 but being a willing plant, and it being nature's ordination, as 

 it would seem, that the wood-bud for the succeeding year 

 should commence its development close on the heels of the 

 flowering process, I endeavor to arrest this excitable charac- 

 ter, in order to bring up all arrears of root action ; for it 

 must be understood, that although enough of reciprocal action 

 has taken place between the leaf and the root, to enable the 

 young bud to commence development, yet, in general, the- 

 additional energies imparted by a few weeks' partial dorman- 

 cy, are of immense benefit. This is a course I have prac- 

 tised for years, and I always find it forces more buds into 

 growth, than when hurried into that stage immediately on 

 the heels of the flowering. 



VOL. XVI. NO. V. 27 



