STANDARD CAMELLIAS. 
43 
flower ; but generally these are of a bad shape, and are only fit to occupy the back part of a green¬ 
house, where their naked stems may be concealed by better plants. Such lanky plants can never be 
made available, as single specimens, to occupy prominent positions in a conservatory. 
In training the Camellia as a standard, we must be guided by the same principles which are 
followed in the case oi; other ornamental flowering shrubs. If young plants are to be grown into low 
standards, the regulation of the branches must be attended to at a very early stage of growth. The 
main stem should be allowed to grow two or three feet clear of shoots, before the branches are 
adjusted. Five or six branches should, if possible, be retained to form the base of the head, and other 
lateral shoots must be encouraged to grow on the central or leading branch. It is desirable that 
such plants should be kept from flowering for two or three years, or until they have acquired the 
desired form; they must also be shifted into larger pots whenever them roots are strong enough to 
warrant the operation. The best time to shift them is in the spring, just before they begin to grow, 
for then the plants are provided with their nourishment at the most natural season. The best compost 
for the Camellia is a mixture of loam and peat with sand, the loam considerably preponderating as 
the plants become large. During the summer, while making their growth, the plants should be 
kept in a cool house, and freely supplied with water at the roots. They should also be often syringed, 
for the purpose of refreshing the foliage, and they must be kept free from the green fly, an insect 
which very commonly infests the tender shoots. The plants must not be deprived of light, but some 
light shading material should protect them from the full glare of the sun. Where standards with 
clear stems of six or eight feet high are wanted, it is not desirable to sacrifice time, or a good kind, 
for the purpose of training it up to the height required, from a young plant, as the object can be 
attained by grafting on a stock of the old C. reticulata, or any other sort, the flowers of which are of 
an equally inferior character. Any old plants, therefore, which, from bad treatment or other causes, 
may have become lanky, may be turned to good account in this way, by grafting or inarching them 
with superior varieties. 
Stocks grown for the purpose of being worked as standards, should be allowed to make their 
growth in a situation where they receive light only from above. For such a purpose, a temporary 
enclosure may be formed by means of common mats, and a space of a few feet square will contain 
many plants. An enclosure may be formed thus: in any corner formed by two walls of eight or ten 
feet high, and where the aspect is westerly, drive down a pole of a convenient length, at the required 
distance from each wall, and by means of this a space can be enclosed with mats or canvas. Some 
structure of this sort where the light is only admitted at the top, is the most suitable for keeping 
stocks that are wanted to grow long and straight. While the stocks are growing, all lateral shoots 
that appear on the lower part of the stem, must be cut off. The head should be kept moderately 
thin, and the leading or central shoot carefully protected from damage, and encouraged as much as 
possible. When the stock has attained the desired height and thickness, the top should be cut off, and 
the operation of grafting performed. It is, however, advisable to cut off the top a week or two 
before the scion which is chosen is put on. 
For grafting on high stems, the shoots of such varieties as have the most spreading habit should 
be selected, so that when the head has grown a year or two, the branches by their own weight may 
assume a somewhat drooping, or, at least, a spreading form. Assuredly, nothing could be more grace¬ 
ful during winter and early spring, than a well-managed Standard Camellia, with its branches bending 
under their load of beautiful flowers. Such a plant, or rather tree, may stand alone, or it may be 
placed, for the purpose of hiding its bare stem, in the centre of a group composed of a variety of other 
sorts, or even in the midst of a miscellaneous collection of conservatory plants. It must certainly be 
allowed that the habit of the Camellia is not quite favourable for training standards into a drooping form, 
yet it is sufficiently pliant to yield, in a great measure, to a system of constant and careful pruning, 
such as encouraging the lateral branches in a horizontal direction, and cutting off such shoots as incline 
upwards. Tying down the main branches may also be practised with success during the first two or 
three years, after the grafts have become strong enough, but the process of bending them down must 
be very gradually and carefully performed. 
Although, in the course of training the stock for high standards, it is necessary to keep it perfectly 
bare below, such nudity is not an absolute condition of growing the Camellia in this way, for as many 
buds or grafts can be inserted over the whole surface of the stem, as may be desired, provided they 
are not too thick, or so numerous as to affect the free growth of the top. In such cases, however, the 
stem should be allowed to attain a moderate height and size before the bads are inserted on it. As 
a general rule, it is desirable to keep the shoots which are thus produced on the stem rather short, 
and they will be thick enough, if kept about a foot apart at the point of insertion. These buds or 
