Febraary 23, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



133 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Month 



Day 



of 

 Week. 



FEB. 28-MAECH 1, 1871. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 

 43 years. 



Snn 

 Kises. 



San 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



23 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 1 



Th 



F 



S 



Sun 

 M 

 Td 

 W 



Meeting of Eoyal Society, 8.30 P.M. 



1 Sunday in Lent. 



Meeting of Royal Geographical Society, 



( 8.30 P.M. 



Royal Horticiiltaral Society, Frnit, Floral, 



[ and General Meeting. 



Day. 

 47.4 

 47.1 

 47.7 

 47.2 

 47.7 

 49.1 

 47.4 



Night. 

 31.5 

 32.8 

 32.7 

 83 6 

 83.5 

 32.8 

 33.6 



Mean. 

 39.4 

 39.9 

 40.2 

 40.4 

 40.6 

 40.9 

 40.5 



Days. 

 14 

 20 

 22 

 23 

 20 

 15 

 16 



m. h. 

 Iaf7 

 59 6 

 56 6 

 54 6 

 52 6 

 5) 6 

 48 6 



111. h. 

 27af5 

 29 

 80 5 

 32 6 

 84 5 



36 5 



37 5 



m. h. 

 56 af 8 

 13 w 

 81 9 

 64 9 

 20 10 

 52 10 

 80 11 



m. h. 

 67af 9 

 5 11 

 morn. 

 12 

 19 1 

 23 2 

 21 8 



Days. 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 ? 

 9 

 10 



m. s. 

 18 87 

 IS 28 

 13 19 

 13 9 

 12 58 

 12 47 

 12 86 



54 

 65 

 66 

 67 

 68 

 59 

 60 



From observations taken near London darinK fortv-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 47 7°. and its night tempera- 

 ture 32.9°. The greatest heat was 62=, on the 25th, isSS ; and the lowest cold 18°, on the 24th, 1860. The greatest fall of rain was 0.92 inch. 



THE CAMELLIA, AND ITS CULTURE —No. 1. 



[A portion of the following paper was read at the Koyal Horticultural 



Society's Meeting on the 15th inst. ] 



TV~E a dog an ill name, and Iiang liim," is a 

 proverb that is pretty generally known and 

 understood in every phase of English life. 

 Now I have to deal to-day, so to speak, with 

 a dog that has unfortunatelJ^ and, in my 

 judgment, undeservedly acquired an ill name, 

 and one object I have in view in taking np 

 his case is to endeavour to set him right with 

 the public. 



Those of i:s who have any knowledge of 

 dog-nature must be aware that if we keep a dog unduly 

 shut up, or feed him on unsuitable or insufficient diet, 

 unless he be of a very accommodating disposition, he will 

 most likel}' manifest some signs of uneasiness or displea- 

 sure. Now, animal nature and plant nature are much 

 alike in this respect. In dealing with the one as with the 

 other, diet and treatment are everything, and pet plants, 

 like pet animals, are sometimes neglected, sometimes ill- 

 nurtured by improper food, and sometimes fed or worried 

 out of health. 



To drop metaphor, the Camellia japonica is a native 

 of China and Japan, and was introduced to this country 

 by Lord Petre about 173!). It was named in honour of 

 George Joseph Camellus, a Moravian .Jesuit. Mr. Fortune, 

 who has travelled both in China and Japan, has obliginglj^ 

 given me the following account of the plant or tree in its 

 native countries. 



" I have met with the Camellia japonica growing as a 

 wild plant over a large tract of country in the central and 

 southern provinces of China, but its principal habitat lies 

 between the 20th and ;50th degrees of north latitude. 



" The early spring in the district alluded to is generally 

 remarkably fine, and rather dry. From April to June the 

 weather breaks, and becomes moist and showerj'. In the 

 end of June and throughout July heavy rains and frequent 

 thunderstorms prevail. In August, September, and Octo- 

 ber the weather is usually dry and fine. The south-west 

 monsoon, which prevails during the summer months, now 

 changes to north-east, and the weather becomes variable 

 during the latter part of the autumn and winter. Those 

 who know how to cultivate the Camellia in Europe will 

 see at once how well such a climate is suited to its consti- 

 tution. It has in its native home a winter cold enough 

 and dry enough to check vegetation, and to secure a period 

 of rest ; an early and fine spring, during which time the 

 flowers bud forth into bloom, a moist atmosphere in the 

 growing season, and a dry and warm summer and autumn 

 to ripen the young shoots. 



" I generally found the Camellia growing in woods where 

 it was partially shaded from the sun by other trees, and 

 in these situations it often attained a height of from 30 to 

 40 feet. The wild plants have usually single or onlj' semi- 

 double llowers. The foliage of these trees is exceedingly 

 handsome — a dark glossy green. The double-flowered 

 kinds, which have been from time to time imported to 



No. 517.— Vol. XX., New Seeies. 



Europe, are garden varieties, and are only met with in a 

 cultivated state. 



'■ There are several species of Camellia found in China, 

 but with one exception — namely, C. reticulata, none are 

 so handsome as C. japonica and its varieties, and of these 

 we in Europe have a more extensive and finer assortment 

 than the Chinese have themselves. 



" In Japan the Camellia is also found in a wild state. 

 I met with it frequently in shady woods like those m winch 

 I had seen it in China. In Japan Camellia Sasanqua is 

 used for ornamental hedges round the gardens near Yeddo, 

 the capital of the country. In November these hedges are 

 very beautiful when the white and rose-coloured varieties 

 of the species are in full bloom." 



The Camellias originally introduced by Lord Petre in 

 173!) were killed by being kept in a hothouse — this was 

 keeping the dog unduly shut up — and some years must 

 have elapsed before the plant was re-introduced, for it is 

 not found in the seventh edition of Miller's " Gardener's 

 Dictionary," published in 1750. Abercrombie, however, 

 includes it in his list of hothouse plants given in the 

 " Garden Vade-Meeum," published in 1780. Several beau- 

 tiful varieties were introduced from China towards the 

 close of the last and at the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury, among them the Double White, the Double Striped, 

 Lady Hume's Blush, Fimbriata, and Imbricata : reticulata. 

 Cup of Beauty, and Princess Frederick William were of 

 later introduction. Others have been raised by English, 

 continental, and American horticulturists. The nurseries 

 of Messrs. Chandler, of Vauxhall, and Messrs. Loddiges, 

 of Hackney (both now abolished), produced early in this 

 century many beautiful new varieties, and the late Mr. 

 Press, of Hornsey, and Mr. Fielder, of Enfield, added to 

 the store. 



Mr. Chandler tells me that about the year 1810, a season 

 verjr favourable for seeding, he saved about half a peck of 

 seeds from the variety known as Warratah, the flowers of 

 which had been fertilised with the pollen of the Double 

 Striped and other esteemed sorts. The seeds were sown 

 as soon as ripe, and vegetated in a few weeks, producing 

 several hundred plants. When two years old, and from 

 to !) inches high, these seedlings were inarched on the 

 Single Red, and in two or three years they flowered. From 

 this crop were raised Chandlerii, Eximia, Elegans, Florida, 

 Aitonii, Pbosa-sinensis, Corallina, Althajflora, Woodsii, In- 

 signis, Concinna, and others. 



Mr. Press appears to have been most successful with 

 the Anemone-flowered varieties — that is, those kinds which 

 have a cluster of small petals in the centre, and a row of 

 large petals at the base of the flower. Of these Eclipse, 

 Pioturata, and Candidissima may be given as examples. 

 Mr. Fielder's seedlings are more of the florists' type, re- 

 sembling the old Double White in shape. Two of his seed- 

 lings, Jubilee and Rubescens, raised some twenty-five years 

 ago, still rank among the best. Miniata, Lowii, and Alexina 

 were also raised by him. Mr. Fielder tells me that Miniata 

 was raised from Sasanqua and Lepida, and that he still 

 considers Lepida, an old semi-double red kind, with large, 

 smooth, thick petals, one of the best to raise seedlings from 



No. 1169.— Vol. XLV., Oid Sekies. 



