THE CAMELLIA. 135 



consumed, that the camellias may be very 2)ropei'ly iiegleeted 

 as possihle tea-plants that nobody wants. 



Aniither matter of some interest is that the camellia 

 displays but a shadow ol: its true beauty when grown as a 

 pot-plant, but has no equal for massive grandeur of leafage 

 and tioral splendour in its season when planted out in a 

 spacious conservatory, and encouraged to grow freely, with 

 scarcely any pruning, and subjected to no more artificial 

 heat than surtices to keep the plants safe from frost. 



And this brings us to the next chapter in this short 

 treatise, and the purport of this chapter is to declare that 

 the camellia is so hardy that it may be grown in the open 

 ground in all fairly favourable spots on the southern side of 

 the Tient, and even far to the north of the Solway, in the 

 moist warm valleys of the western coasts, where the waters 

 of the Atlantic bring with them some of the spare warmth 

 of the Gulf Stream. Throughout Dorset, Somerset, Devon, 

 and Cornwall, the camellia only needs to be sheltered 

 from strong winds to thrive perfectly withnut an}' special 

 care, and a nijrth-by-west aspect appears to suit it better 

 than east or south. As a wall-tree it answers as well as 

 any magnolia, but it is still better situated if standing 

 far away from walls, yet enjoying shelter, with free air 

 and light. 



The cultivation of the camellia cannot be dismissed iu 

 the usual way by saying it is a very simple matter. In 

 truth, it is a matter (.)f some difficulty to do the thing well, 

 for any serious mistake will result in the shedding of the 

 flower-buds just at the time when they should be opening 

 into flowers, while systematic mismanagement will result in 

 a ]ioor growth, naked stems, diseased leaves, and an absence 

 of flowers. The chief iioint iu the management is the 



