166 THE FLORIST AND 



moist atmosphere. The approach of the dry season induces matu- 

 ration of growth. The aridity of the air and intense heat of the 

 sun, .solidifies the tissue to a degree seldom attainable under artifi- 

 cial cultivation, and vegetation is thus enabled to withstand ex- 

 tremes both of heat and cold. Hence plants of Acacias, Hovea, 

 Eucalypti and others, in their respective countries are subjected to 

 many degrees of frost without injury. 



In greenhouses, circumstances are widely different; although much 

 may be done in imitation of this natural treatment ; by a gradual 

 withdrawal of water during autumn, until a perfect state of rest 

 was induced, I have subjected many hothouse plants to a few de- 

 gress of frost without any apparent injury. Under similar treat- 

 ment orange trees have been subjected to 12 deg. of frost and re- 

 mained unhurt. 



It is obvious that proper treatment during the growing period is 

 the most important item in the culture of exotic plants. One man 

 will set his Camellia plants out of doors while they are making a 

 growth, the young shoots are dried up ; an effort to a second growth 

 is made which is not properly matured, and flowers are produced 

 sparingly if at all. Another will keep his plants in a somewhat 

 shady house, well supplied with atmospherical moisture, until the 

 young shoots show symptoms of ripening. Exposure to a drier at- 

 mosphere at this period will still further check growth, and conse- 

 quently favor a disposition to form flower buds. I have repeatedly 

 observed that the most healthy and vigorous camellias and at the 

 same time producing the greatest quantity of large well-developed 

 flowers, were never exposed to the full influence of the weather, 

 still it is not a tender plant. Planted in the open air in this lati- 

 tude, it proves as hardy as the common Kalmia and Rhododendron, 

 and has stood unprotected for the last nine years. 



There has been too much importance attached to the empirical 

 composition of soils, under the supposition that each kind of plant 

 required a peculiar combination of earths to maintain a healthy ex- 

 istence. I am not aware of the facts upon which the supposition is 

 founded. If we take nature for our guide we will find plants grow- 

 ing with equal luxuriance upon soils of a widely different charac- 

 ter. I apprehend that skilful culture depends much more upon the 

 physical condition and arrangement of the soil, and its relation to 

 air and water. Some plants affect a dry and exposed locality, 



