253 
T1IE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 27, 1858. 
make cuttings at the end of August, for fruiting the 
following year, to keep the young plants in small pots 
all the winter, and to give them no more nor less heat 
and nourishment than they would to young Tom 
Thumb Geraniums. Mr. Kidd puts four good cuttings 
in a large 48-size pot, in good loamy soil, and has his 
first crop of fruit off them before he changes the pots ; 
and when the end of the spring is dry and hot, he 
puts the pots in saucers of water to ripen off the last 
of the crop ; after thati or on the turn of midsummer, 
he plants them out against walls, as others do their 
Tomatoes ; and, as soon as they get hold of the free soil, 
away they go flowering and fruiting till a smart frost 
puts a stop to them. Or an old plant or two might be 
cut down in October, just like cutting a Geranium, 
and taken up with balls, to be saved half dry like balls 
of Fuchsias, and to give these a little heat in the 
spring to cause them to make early wood for cuttings, 
and to plant out the plants from these cuttings along 
with the bedding plants, and they would fruit from 
about this time. The best place of all for them would 
be an orchard-house, and to have them rather under 
otted, than to give them too much room at the roots, 
eedling plants go too much to leaf and growth. 
D. Beaton. 
LOOKING AROUND US. 
CAMELLIAS OUT OP DOORS. 
“ Shall I allow my Camellia plants to remain in the 
greenhouse, after the buds are set, or place them out 
of doors ?” This is a matter of very little consequence, 
provided abundance of air is given in the house, with 
: a fair portion of light and plenty of water. The 
foliage is generally of a brighter green when kept in, 
and the buds swell earlier, and consequently, if thick¬ 
set, want thinning sooner. The plants become some¬ 
what hardier when set out of doors, and the blooms 
come a little later. One chief reason, in many places, 
for putting them out is, that, if encouraged to grow 
beneath the shade of Vines, &c., the buds will not be 
so well matured as if they were placed out of doors 
for two or three months after the buds were set. 
Another reason is, that if they have been kept in the 
greenhouse, their removal outside would place more 
room at your disposal, for Fuchsias, Achimenes, 
Balsams, and other summer - flowering plants. In 
placing such plants out of doors, two things should be 
thought about,—securing the standing place from 
worms, and choosing a position, in which the plants 
may have a little of the morning and evening sun, but 
be sheltered from its rays from 10 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. 
Azaleas may be treated in much the same way,—only 
they want a good syringing every afternoon in fine 
weather, plenty of moisture at the root, and more di¬ 
rect sunshine, as the autumn progresses; but even 
when the tops are thus exposed, it would be good 
policy to protect the pots from the sun’s rays. 
REPOTTING AZALEAS AND CAMELLIAS. 
“ I am quite bewildered in this matter ; there are 
so many contradictory advices,—some recommending 
spring and some autumn.” Most likely every operator 
would find his own peculiar method the best; and you 
would be equally successful if you followed his mode 
in all its minutiae. Error and failure generally arise 
from attempting to combine the minutiae of different 
systems. Where opportunity offers, I would prefer 
reshifting as soon as the flowering ceased and the 
young shoots had made an inch or two of growth. In 
doing so, the plants must be kept under cover after¬ 
wards, until fresh growth is freely proceeding, and 
the buds are formed. If not done so then, I should 
prefer doing it as soon as the flower-buds were set; 
and, though a little closeness afterwards would not 
disagree with the plants for a short time, it is not es¬ 
sential ; as the mere heat of the season will cause 
roots to work freely in the new soil, and the rather 
free exposure of the tops will prevent the buds grow- 1 
ing too freely or starting into shoots. I have some- ] 
times done this w r ork in autumn ; but, when done later, 
I always expected to see the flower-buds of Camellias 
and Azaleas suffer in proportion, though the plants 
might be increased in health and vigour. To secure 
well-developed flower-buds, I would recommend the 
repotting of such plants not to be deferred, if possible, 
over July. There will then be plenty of time for the ! 
roots to pass through the new soil and twine round the 
sides of the pot, which is almost essential to secure 
perfect and abundant blooming. Large plants will i 
merely require a portion of the soil, outside the ball, 
to be carefully picked away, with a wire or small 
stick, and be placed in a similar sized pot, well drained, 
or in one just a little larger. Young plants may have 
a larger shift. Plants already in large pots, or tubs, 
provided the drainage is all right, and water is given j 
as it should be, will be kept in health for many years, 
merely by picking away a portion of the surface soil, 
or compost, and replacing by fresh. Azaleas of such 
an age, when growing freely, and also when showing i 
bloom, and when flowering, will relish weak manure 
waterings, of a cool nature, such as that obtained from i 
old cowdung. Top dressings of the latter will also be 
useful, if rising two-years-old and dry. Camellias are | 
not so particular, but, provided the manure water is 
weak enough, will relish it, whether it be of a hot or 
cold nature, though the latter will be found the safest. 
Sandy Heath mould is still the best for Azaleas, though, j 
as the plants get old and established, nodules of dried 
cowdung, and pieces of fibry, turfy loam, will alike 
tend to keep the plants luxuriant and stubby. In the 
case of young Camellias, Heath soil and loam will do, 
in equal proportions ; but as they get on in age, the 
compost should be chiefly sweet, fibry, brown loam. 
TREE RHODODENDRONS. AND VARIETIES. 
“ These seldom flower with me, though they grow j 
freely enough ; what can be the reason P ” The safest 1 
plan is to treat them much as you would do a Camellia 
or an Azalea. Encourage them to make fresh shoots 
in the spring, and early summer. If a little shade 
were given at first, remove that as soon as the shoots are 
from three to six inches long, and give less water ; but 
not so little as to cause the plants to flag at all. This i 
slight check will arrest growth, and cause the bud, in 
the point of the shoot, to swell. Encourage this by a 
little manure watering. If the plants cannot be 
moved as soon as the bud gets thus round and plump, 
give all the light and air possible, and no more water 
than will just keep the plant from showing dis¬ 
tress from dryness ; for, if too much water is now given 
and the weather should be hot, you will run the risk 
of starting the most of these buds into shoots, instead 
of retaining them for getting huge umbels of flowers i 
in early spring, or even mid-winter. When the plants 
are easily moveable, it is best to remove them out of 
doors, when the buds are thus fairly set and swelling, 
giving them a position that will shade them from the 
sun at the hottest mid-day hours, and just water enough 
to keep the buds slowly swelling. By the first or 
second week of September, the plants may be set right 
in the sun ; but the pots protected with a piece of 
matting, or turf, or anything to keep the roots from 
being scorched. The buds will thus sw'ell to a large 
size, and not be incited to start prematurely into 
shoots; and as the temperature increases in winter 
and spring, either naturally or artificially, the buds 
