364 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OP GARDENING. 
windows. The windows should be made to let down from the top, by 
which means the plants could have air let in upon them, without a strong 
current passing through them or upon them. This I consider a very 
important matter, as a strong draught or current of air is very injurious, 
both to the vegetable and animal creation. 
I first used wood fire, then Lehigh coal in grates, and finally Lehigh 
coal, or anthracite coal, in a stove; but I greatly prefer the stove, as it 
keeps a more uniform heat, creates less dust, and I could frequently keep 
the passage and partition doors open, to assist in airing the plants. 
The plants in rooms should be watered more frequently than in green¬ 
houses, and they should be syringed over the tops every evening , about 
sunset, in dry weather, and twice or thrice a week in wet weather. The 
syringing will not injure the carpet upon the floor, if the water is wiped 
up immediately after the drip ceases to fall from the leaves : a dark carpet 
soils less than a light-coloured one, if not well wiped up. 
The camellias that bloom best in parlours are those that have a green 
calyx or buds; those that have a dark calyx or buds are the most 
difficult to make flower. 
I have bloomed in a parlour, by the above plan, all of the most 
difficult-flowering camellias that are grown in this country, though not so 
finely as they are bloomed in greenhouses; but those that have a green 
calyx, as before remarked, will bloom nearly as well as in greenhouses, 
and will seed much more freely in a dry heat. 
The camellias that I would recommend as the best to flower in parlours 
are the following:—■ Camellia coccinea , or splendens , Coningtoni , variegata , 
Pomponia , Pceoniflora , nivalis , excelsa , Sabini , conchiflora alba , Derbyana , 
rubricaulis , ParJcsii , conchiflora , Laura Coales , including all that are 
semi-double, with about fifteen or twenty petals, and that have a green 
calyx, and all the single varieties. 
The plants should have air, by letting down the top sash whenever the 
weather is mild, or when there is no frost in the atmosphere, for a short 
time, though it may be cool. The camellias require a great quantity of 
air : they will bloom in a room where the heat varies from thirty-five to 
fifty degrees; but will bear a much greater heat and bloom well, and on 
some occasions they will flower, even though the earth on the top of the 
pot has been slightly frozen ; but extremes, either of heat or cold, are bad 
for them. 
I have had camellias bloom finely on the benches, as above, where the 
sun did not shine on them ; but, in such cases, they should have a great 
quantity of light. 
The syringe that I use is made of brass ; and, when properly used and 
