THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
175 
ployed for the same purpose. But the true tea-plant 
(Thea ) is so hardy and possesses in such a striking man¬ 
ner the properties for the sake of which tea is consumed, 
that the camellias may be very properly neglected as pos¬ 
sible tea-plants, that nobody wants. 
Another matter of some interest is that the camellia 
displays but a shadow of its true beauty when grown as 
a pot-plant, and has no equal for massive grandeur of 
leafage and floral splendor in its season when planted out 
in a spacious conservatory, and encouraged to grow 
freely, with scarcely any pruning, and subjected to no 
more artificial heat than suffices to keep the plants safe 
from frost. 
The successful cultivation of the camellia is a matter of 
some difficulty, for any serious mistake will result in the 
shedding of the flower-buds just at the time when they 
should be opening into flowers, while systematic misman¬ 
agement will result in a poor growth, naked stems, dis¬ 
eased leaves, and an absence of flowers. The chief 
point in the management is the watering. If the soil be¬ 
comes sour with stagnant water, mischief must follow ; 
and if the roots are dry for any length of time, the 
flower-buds will be likely to drop. As for the soil, there 
is nothing so suitable as a stout, friable, yellow loam, full 
of fibre from rotted turf. Clay, chalk and sand are all 
unfit for the camellia, but a good peat soil answers very 
well, especially for making beds for planting out camel¬ 
lias, when a nice friable, fibry loam is not obtainable. 
One of the best for the conservatory is the one known 
as Dozickelaari. The following also are fine varieties, 
and the most useful among hundreds: Double White, 
Alexina, Beali, Countess of Ellesmere, Jenny Lind, La- 
vinia Maggi, Leopold I„ Valtavaredo and Giardino San- 
tarelli. 
A BIT OF NATURE. 
N ATURE not only “ never did betray the heart that 
loved her,” but she is ready to whisper in your ear 
her choicest secrets. “ Listen. Look in the grass yon¬ 
der ; I have a little ‘ find ’ for you ”—and you discover 
Drosera rotundifolia (round-leaved sundew) almost 
right at your own door — a plant that you had been 
obliged to go five miles to procure. Then Nature seems 
to really smile and say, “ I am glad to have given you so 
much pleasure.” 
When I was studying ferns, it was a standing remark 
of one of my friends, that “ whenever I see Mrs. D-—, 
I always expect to hear something about Botrychiwns ; 
and when I am walking with her I say, ‘ Where do they 
grow ? ’ She stoops and calls my attention to a rare, 
strange-looking leaf and single stalk, with clusters of 
grape-like globules, and says, ‘ Why, here is one ! ’ ” And 
so it is, when you are in real sympathy with any sub¬ 
ject, you are at once admitted into the home circle, and 
there are no secrets. 
If you really love the growing life about you, do not 
carelessly and recklessly destroy it. Take with care what 
you need and can use, but be sure that you do not eradi¬ 
cate comparatively rare specimens. I say comparatively 
rare, because my oldest botanical friend will seldom 
allow that a plant is really rare. Also, when you find 
fine specimens by the pathside, leave them when you 
can, to gladden the eyes of other passers-by. 
An excellent pteridologist wished to examine for scien¬ 
tific purposes Woodsia obtusa , a very pretty fern and not 
very common in this locality ; but the specimen most 
convenient for him to take looked so lovely he could not 
bring his mind to the point of disturbing it, and so, I 
presume, it lives in its home even to this day. 
Another learned professor, when shown a beautiful 
fringed gentian, said, “ Yes, very good,” and began at 
once to dissect it, to the horror of the owner. The former 
was scientific, .but a real lover of nature too; the latter 
looked at all plants, it is to be supposed, in a purely 
scientific view, and the beauty to him was in structure 
and formation. It was a fine specimen, not a beautiful 
flower. 
Science is very valuable, but I must confess that there 
is a certain tenderness in my heart for the sweet, lovely, 
wild blossoms; and I am sure that it was there long 
before I knew anything about their structure and growth. 
Have you ever noticed in your walks and drives what 
an important factor in nature the wild-rose is ? There is 
no plant that seems to be used so profusely and effec¬ 
tively for decorative purposes. By the roadside, in the 
thickets, along unsightly walls, the edges of swamps and 
in attractive groups in the pastures. Wild-roses here, 
there and everywhere !’ And then they come so early and 
stay so long ! You ought to be able to find them from 
the middle of June until the first of August, and the last 
lingering blossom will possibly stay until past the middle 
of the latter month. I found last year a single rose, Rosa 
Carolina, on the 20th of August. As I was entering a 
small swamp its beauty beamed upon me from afar, and 
it really was surprising to see how one small rose could 
brighten the scene. 
If you wish to study the roses and learn their scientific 
names, you will have but little difficulty if you give close 
observation. You will readily find five species, and pos¬ 
sibly six. 
The dwarf wild-rose (Rosa lucida), with its shining and 
sharply serrate leaves, armed with unequal prickles, stip¬ 
ules broad, and one to three flowered, will probably be the 
first to greet you in your summer walks. This is com¬ 
mon in dry soil and on the edges of swamps. 
A little later the swamp rose ( Rosa Carolina) will be 
very abundant in all low grounds. The leaves of this are 
dull above and pale beneath, the flowers numerous, stip¬ 
ules narrow, and the prickles stout and hooked. 
Rosa nitida is similar to Rosa lucida, only the leaves 
are narrower, and the stem seems to be studded with 
small prickles. 
