100 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
in the King’s Road, Chelsea, and observing these beautiful evergreen plants, 
with flowers of various colours, blooming throughout the cold, snowy, and frosty 
weather of late winter and early spring. Since then there have been great 
improvements made in the varieties and in culture. Poor Robert Sweet was 
then in his glory amongst ^them and the noble collection for those days of 
other plants at Colvill’s. Another thing, too, used to delight my sight and 
hearing at that time, on visiting Sweet’s private house, which I frequently did, 
was the success with which he managed to keep several nightingales and red¬ 
starts in health and song throughout the short cold days of winter. Sweet 
and Edward Body, a coach builder and near neighbour of Sweet, were the 
only two persons whom I knew to succeed so -well in keeping those beautiful 
songsters in health and singing all winter. 
But I was going to make some practical remarks on the Camellia. An 
orange-house was built here twenty-five years ago. It was about 120 feet 
long by 22 wide, span-roofed, and about 18 feet high, and had a wall on the 
north side, and upright sashes in front, made in two, so as either to lift up or 
slide down, for air-giving. Between the sashes were ornamental pillars, pre¬ 
senting a flat surface inside of about 16 or 18 inches. In the centre of the 
house was a border, and another went all round. The former was occupied 
by Orange trees in tubs, intermixed with a batch of Camellias in pots, &c., 
amounting in all to sixty varieties or more. I set to work and retubbed and 
repotted the whole, Oranges as well as Camellias, and they grew with such 
luxuriance, and became so crowded that many of the larger Camellias had to 
be turned out of doors, where all of them have done well, growing and flowering; 
many of them are 12 feet or more high. Although this has been a long trying 
winter, thousands of blooms expand between the frosty nights, and there is 
always a succession of bloom-buds ready to replace the flowers w r hich are cut 
off by frost or fall naturally. It is no common sight to see fine clumps of 
Camellias, healthy and in full bloom, in the open air—hardier than the common 
Laurel. 
In about seven years the house again became so crowded that I mentioned 
to my noble employer that something must be done—either the Orange trees 
or the Camellias must be done away with, in order that justice might be done 
to the other. Her Ladyship at once saw the necessity, and said that an Orange- 
house should at once be erected. This was done, and I obtained a noble house 
90 feet long, and about 60 wide—a little winter garden. Preparation was of 
course made at once for turning out the Orange trees—but how this was done 
I need not relate—and the Camellias, after making their wood and setting their 
buds, being in large tubs, pots, &c., were all turned out of doors, the house 
thoroughly washed, cleaned, and painted. A wire trellis was placed against 
the back wall, also on the spaces between the sashes inside. Meanwhile no 
time was lost in collecting together from the soil-stacks, &c., the materials of 
which I intended to make the new border, in which the Camellias were to be 
turned out on their return to the house. Painting and cleaning being finished, 
a quantity of charcoal was brought in, rubble collected for drainage, and a 
compost prepared, consisting of heath soil, light turfy loam—healthy turfy 
loam, such as the healthy turfy loam we make use of for Pine-culture—in 
quantities of about one-third of each, a large quantity of sharp clean- 
washed drift or river sand, and a goodly portion of charcoal, all well mixed 
together. A little mountain of this compost having been made ready, and the old 
borders taken out to about the depth of 3 feet (this was necessary on account 
of the large tubs and pots the Camellias -were in, the balls being consequently 
large and deep) rubble w T as first put in, consisting of broken bricks and large 
pieces of charcoal, to the depth of from 9 to 12 inches; then tough rooty 
