112 
ON PLANTS TO FLOWER LATE IN AUTUMN. 
mended it. Blooming as it does at a time when flowers are so scarce, one good speci 
men in bloom, would have an enchantingly enlivening effect. And then, throng] 
the summer, what better than its fine foliage to contrast with guy tender annual 
and other showy plants, usually grown under such circumstances ? 
In preparing to turn any plant out, the principal object is to insure effectua 
drainage ; for, though the Camellia likes abundance of moisture, no plant suffer 
more from stagnation of it about its roots. A large body of soil is not required t<; 
enable a plant to flourish ; good soil, being chosen, a comparatively small quantity ii 
sufficient. A rich maiden loam, with a proportion of rotten dung, or peat am 
loam, is suitable. Old specimens can easily have the soil in which they are growing 
enriched by liquid manure, &c. 
It is not universally understood how advantageous it is to the Camellia to gror 
it in partially shaded structures. It always flourishes best in such ; for its foliage 
cannot bear — indeed is invariably much injured by — exposure to strong light ; bui 
during the period it is making its annual growth, it is essentially necessary to wel 
shade whatever structure it may be perfecting in. 
We may appropriately introduce, in conclusion, a few words on the possibility o: 
having, by skilful management, Camellias in flower six or eight months in the year 
But, to do this, they must necessarily be cultivated in pots. It only requires health} 
plants to commence with, every means being taken to maintain them so, and the 
early inflorescent habit induced in them by most careful — in other words, very 
gradual and gentle — forcing. The principal point is, after they have flowered, tc 
develop and mature the annual growth — which it will be imagined there is some 
difficulty in doing in December and January. There is, however, no obstacles which 
perseverance may not overcome, and which is not worth overcoming, to enable a 
display of Camellia flowers to be had from August to April. The bloom continues 
perfect in the winter a much longer period than it does as the season becomes more 
advanced. 
Camellias , under any circumstances, are greatly benefited, at the time they are 
growing, by the careful application of artificial heat, more so than by maintaining a 
high temperature through keeping the house closed, which, in place of properly 
aiding the young growth, only tends to its elongation. It is a great oversight not to 
practise thinning the bloom-buds of these plants, repeatedly and extensively, before 
they approach complete maturity. The advantage of doing so is very imperfectly, if 
at all, understood. 
ON PLANTS TO FLOWER LATE IN AUTUMN. 
It is too often the mournful experience of all acquainted with the flower-garden, 
and the whole of the out-door floral department, how very frequently the beauty 
of the plants is destroyed in its very zenith by frost, as early as the beginning 
