CAMELLIAS. 
285 
demand for flowers during the festival season approaching, it is 
quite likely many anxious inquiries will he made as to “ when 
can we have a Camellia bloom and from an equally anxious 
desire to gratify the request, it is also probable that extra means 
will be thought of to hasten its consummation :—it will only be to 
force them a bit; however, here let me tell those who thus think 
it easy to abridge the time between the formation of the bud and 
the expansion of the flower, that they are in error; for Camellias, 
will not bear forcing now , and so surely as they are put into an 
elevated temperature, just so certainly will the buds drop off. 
Was it possible, I would not allow the slightest variation in the 
supply of either heat or moisture, from the time the buds are first 
discoverable till after the blooming, for so important is a uniform 
treatment through this stage of the plant’s progress, that I do 
not hesitate to ascribe the greater proportion of failures to a devia¬ 
tion from this rule, and in confirmation may refer to frequent 
complaints of the falling of the buds, when the plants are taken 
from a greenhouse to the sitting-room : cases of this kind are so 
common as to come within the observation of every one interested 
in the consideration, and can be accounted for in no other way. 
It is better, then, “ to preach patience to their longings,” than 
to destroy all expectation by a premature haste ; but the way 
to have early flowers is to force the plants immediately after 
they have bloomed ; they will then not only bear it, but receive 
an actual benefit from stimulus. Let them be repotted into a 
loamy soil if the specimens are full grown, or a mixture of 
peat and loam if younger plants, and place them in a gradually 
rising temperature of from 50° to 65°, such as is afforded by a 
vinery, and they will form new growths at an early period, on 
which the buds will be seen before those treated in the usual green¬ 
house manner have scarcely started; and, as a necessary conse¬ 
quence, the flowers of such will be considerably in advance 
through the following season. By varying the introduction to 
heat, so as to let it run over a couple of months, with a very 
moderate collection, it will be easy to have a continued succession 
of flowers throughout the winter and early spring months ; but in 
no other way can it be done. 
Hortulanus. 
