CAMELLIAS IN THE SOUTH- WEST, 



soils of very different nature. In South Devon 

 and Cornwall the Camellia is seen at its best, 

 and its flowering season extends over many 

 months, some forms blossoming as early as No- 

 vember, while some are not bare of flowers be- 

 fore mid-July. In a letter from Cornwall writ- 

 ten on August i o, a correspondent tells me that 

 the latest Camellia was only just out of bloom. 

 When in full flower the great bushes, often 

 10 feet or more in height and diameter, are a 

 charming picture with branches drooping be- 

 neath their weight of bloom. I have counted 

 as many as sixteen flowers on one small spray. 

 All the old standard varieties of C. japonica are 

 grown in Cornish gardens, many of which con- 

 tain a large collection, none, however, equal- 

 ling in number that of Lord Falmouth at Tre- 

 gothnan, where there must beover i,20ohuge 

 bushes in the open. The long back wall of 

 the stables, some 20 feet high, is also covered 

 throughout its length with trained trees. One 

 white, cream-centred variety at Tregothnan 

 has a sweet perfume. Most of these were plan- 

 ted about forty years ago. At Carclew there 

 are numbers of fine specimens, the tallest of 

 which must be nearly 1 8 feet high. The largest 

 example I have heard of in the south-west, but 

 which I have never seen, is growing atTregre- 

 han. It is a single form and was first planted 

 in a greenhouse, but it became too large for its 

 quarters and the house was pulled down. This 

 bush is about 25 feet in height, its stem being 

 over 3 feet in girth, and its age about ninety 

 years. At Enys there are many large bushes, 

 one of the most beautiful varieties being the 

 shell-pink Lady Emily Cathcart. One of the 

 most charming sights in the south-west in the 

 spring isthelong wallat Scorrier House, which 

 isentirely covered with Camellias. Thelength 

 of this wall is 244 yards, and the largest stem 

 is 42^ inches round. A species grown at Scor- 

 rier under the name of C. myrtifolia, bearing 

 double flowers of a pale blush pink and with 

 small leaves, is over 1 1 feet in height and 1 2r> 

 feet across ; it is trained against a wall. C. re- 

 ticulata^ the queen of the race, is to be met with 

 fairly often, but mostly as a wall shrub. At 

 Scorrier, however, there is a fine bush of this 

 standing in the open, 9 feet 2 inches in height, 

 8 5 feet in diameter, and 1 2| inches round the 

 stem. At Saltram, Lord Morley's place in 

 South Devon, there are many large bush speci- 



257 



mens of various varieties of C. japomca, and 

 there are also two healthy plants of C. reticu- 

 lata about 6 feet high. The Scorrier gardens 

 also contain a large example of this kind trained 

 against aiwall. This is the plant that bears the 

 flowers that invariably win the first prize for 

 Camellia blooms at the Truro Daffodil Show. 

 The semi-double blossoms of soft rose-pink, 

 with theircentral cluster of golden stamens, are 

 often over 6 inches across, and are very lovely 

 both in colour and form, with none of the stiff- 

 ness of the double Camellia. Plants of C. ja- 

 ponica and its more or less single forms often 

 bear seed from which they have been propa- 

 gated. The old single form strikes freely from 

 cuttings, but the named double kinds do not 

 root so readily. Cuttings are generally taken 

 at the end of September and rooted in cold 

 frames or under handlights ; they are also some- 

 times taken in the late spring after some growth 

 has been made. Cuttings strike well in pure 

 granite sand, the white root-fibres soon run- 

 ning through it in every direction. 



S. W. FITZHERBERT. 



MAGNOLIAS AND CHOICER 

 SHRUBS FOR THE HOUSE. 



Some few years ago I planteda little valley with 

 Magnolias, as choice as to kind and strength 

 perhaps as could be got in Europe, and did all 

 that I could to make them at home. There 

 was a screen of evergreen trees on the east 

 side which ought to have helped them a little, 

 but, in spite of all, our March winds and late 

 frosts killed the flowers. In certain districts 

 they might have escaped such an end, but the 

 fact we have to count with is, that these shrubs 

 flower sooner in our country than they would 

 in their own, our mild green winters causing 

 earlier growth than where the weather is more 

 severe. On seeing my poor little stellata Mag- 

 nolias marred by the blast it occurred to me 

 that an excellent way might be to grow a num- 

 ber of these and like shrubs, so that they could 

 be transferred to passages, halls, or even large 

 windows, just as they come into flower, and 

 that in this way we might enjoy their bloom 

 no matter what the weather might be. I do 

 not mean forcing of any kind, which would be 

 quite needless for hardy shrubs, but simply 

 protection from the ceaseless changes of our 

 climate. The fashion of forcing shrubs is an 



T 2 



