November 7, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



357 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



of 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week. 



NOVEMBER 7—13, 1872. 



Average Tempera- 

 ture near London. 



Rain in 

 43 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's i Cl»<* 

 **>• ! Sun! 



Day 



of. 



Year. 



7 

 8 

 9 

 10 

 11 

 12 

 13 



Th 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



To 



w 



Meeting of Linnean Society, 8 p.m. 

 Cambridge Term divides. 

 Prince of Wales Born, 1841. 

 24 Sunday after Trinity. 

 Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Show opens. 

 „ „ „ closes. 

 Royal Jersey Horticultural Exhibition. 



Day. 

 52.1 

 52.0 

 50.5 

 50.4 

 50.2 

 50.2 

 49.9 



Night. 

 36.7 

 34.3 

 33.8 

 34.0 

 84.2 

 83.8 

 35.2 



Mean. 

 44.4 

 43.1 

 42.2 

 42.2 

 42.2 

 42.0 

 42.6 



Days. 

 20 

 19 

 16 

 24 

 15 

 17 

 22 



m. h. 



7 af7 



8 7 



10 7 



11 7 



13 7 



14 7 

 16 7 



m. h. 

 21 af4 

 19 4 

 18 4 

 16 4 

 14 4 

 13 4 

 11 4 

 1 



m. h. 

 49 1 

 18 2 

 40 2 

 59 2 

 14 3 

 29 3 

 45 8 



m. h. 

 52 9 

 11 11 

 morn. 

 42 

 5 2 

 26 3 

 46 4 



Days. 

 6 



]> 



8 



9 

 10 

 11 

 12 



m. s. 

 16 9 

 16 5 

 15 59 

 15 53 

 15 46 

 15 39 

 15 30 



312 

 313 

 314 

 315 

 816 

 317 

 318 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 50.8°; and its night temperature 

 81.6°. The greatest heat was 63", on the 12th, 1841 ; and the lowestcold 17°, on the 9th, 1864. The greatest fall of rain was 1.1b inch. 



NOTES ON THE CAMELLIA. 



i T is now some years since the use of fresh- 

 cut turfy loam was advocated in tins Journal 

 as the best material in which to pot the 

 Camellia; and by the number of communi- 

 cations which appeared at that time and sub- 

 sequently, it would seem that many of your 

 readers have given it a trial, and they must 

 by this time be able to speak confidently 

 about it. Many years previously to Mr. 

 Pearson's remarks appearing in print I had 

 seen turfy loam used — not light loam, but that which 

 would be termed medium ; the plants, however, did not 

 take kindly to the potting material, making very weakly 

 growths. About the same time I had to repot a collection 

 of Camellias ; and the only potting material that could be 

 obtained was very black peat earth, the small hillocks 

 which the moles cast up being gathered for this purpose. 

 The plants made very good growth in this, and the foliage 

 was of a deep healthy green. After that time I used 

 turfy peat, with a small proportion of turfy loam added 

 to it. I have also tried the loam which can be obtained 

 here ; it is a very light sandy loam, and the plants suc- 

 ceeded in it for a time, but afterwards the leaves assumed 

 a sickly colour, and it was thought desirable to return to 

 the turfy peat and loam for potting. 



I do not know whether it is general, but the plants 

 have made unusually good growth this season, and are 

 well set with flower-buds. A cloudy wet season, with a 

 temperature below the average, seems to suit them.' There 

 are some plants which the modern system of hothouse 

 buuding does not agree with, and the CamelUa is amongst 

 the number. Large panes of glass and close glazing look 

 very well from an architectural point of view, but for 

 many practical purposes the old system, with closely- 

 placed bars and small panes, is the best. To many per- 

 sons this may seem downright heresy ; it is an opinion 

 shared, nevertheless, by some of our best practical gar- 

 deners. At this place, in a closely-glazed lean-to vinery 

 in which the squares of glass are very large, I have much 

 difficvilty in keeping the leaves of the Vines from being 

 scorched before the Grapes are ripe. Especially is this 

 the case with the old Muscat of Alexandria. I pointed 

 out this to a friend on one occasion, a very successful 

 plant-grower, and in a conversation that followed my 

 friend niade this remark — "I believe that the modern 

 Style of hothouse building has killed nearly all the fine 

 old Camellias " — he was speaking of the neighbourhood 

 of London. Again, take the now-popular Orchid family; 

 it is pretty well known that they do not succeed nearly 

 so well in the new style of hothouse as they did in the old- 

 fashioned houses where the small squares of glass were 

 used. In the old style so much artificial shading was 

 not required ; it was only necessary to use canvas screens 

 during very hot weather. Shading of some sort is abso- 

 lutely necessary, but the less it is required the better for 

 the plants. The small squares of glass may also create a 

 purer atmosphere by the admission of ah between the 

 No. 606.— Vol. XXIII., New Series. 



panes, as the glass does not always fit so tightly but that 

 there are minute spaces through which air is admitted. 



Having said thus much, I do not wish it to be inferred 

 that I am an advocate for the old system for every pur- 

 pose. There are some classes of plants that require as 

 much light as can possibly be afforded them ; and in the 

 northern parts of these islands an unintercepted admis- 

 sion of the sun's rays may be desirable. Doubtless there 

 are many sides to this question, and taking into considera- 

 tion the large number of persons who can now afford 

 the luxury of glass structures, its importance is obvious, 

 and I should much like the opinion of Some of our best 

 practical gardeners on the matter. 



At any rate, as regards the Camellia, it will be found 

 that the old style of house with a west aspect, a lean-to 

 or half-span, suits it best. The plants must also be shaded 

 from the sun's rays during summer. If a whole house 

 can be given up to then- culture it is comparatively easy. 

 A greenhouse temperature suits them nearly all the year 

 round. At the time they are making their young wood 

 a close, moist, and rather high temperature is desirable. 

 When the plants are grown in a greenhouse with other 

 plants it is best to remove them to a warmer house to 

 make their growth. Some growers remove their plants 

 out of doors after the buds are set, but this I do not 

 approve of ; there is always danger of the buds dropping, 

 off when they are removed to the house in the autumn. 

 Of course, with good management this may be avoided ; 

 it is not so much the change of temperature that is the 

 cause, it is, I think, mainly the atmospheric change; 

 they are removed from a moist to a dry atmosphere, 

 consequently a check is experienced, and the buds drop. 

 After the plants are taken inside they should be dewed 

 over once or twice a-day with a syringe for about a week 

 or ten days, after which they will be safe. It is also 

 highly important to keep the roots in a healthy growing 

 state, as few plants are more easily injured e:ther from 

 beino- stinted or from an excess of water. An overdry 

 atmosphere, caused by overheating the pipes or flues m 

 winter, is a frequent cause of buds dropping. 



The Camellia does not require to be potted frequently, 

 so that the operation ought to be carefully performed. 

 The crocks should be carefully placed at the bottom, and 

 over them put some tough fibrous peat or loam. If the 

 plants require repotting and are in good condition, a large 

 quantity offender white fleshy- roots will be found round 

 the outside of the ball of earth. These active rootlets 

 ought not to be destroyed, some of the surface mould 

 should be removed, and a little should be carefully picked 

 out from the ball, if it can be done without much injury 

 to the roots ; but if the roots are in bad condition from 

 having grown in unsuitable material, it will be better 

 to shake the soil away from them as much as possible 

 before repotting. 



Camellias should be kept quite clean. If the plants 

 are small, and the collection is not large.it is best to wash 

 the leaves separately with a sponge, using tepid water in 

 which some soft soap has been dissolved. Frequent 

 syrhiffino' during the summer months will help to keep 

 No. 1258,-Vol. XLVIII., Old Series. 



