TIIE CAMELLIA. 
99 
variegated, as in the case of the Monarch, Chandlerii, the double 
striped, and some others. 
He says : “ To blotch them plentifully with white, they should 
be forced pretty freely the preceding spring (after they have 
done flowering), kept a very little dryer than usual, and freely 
exposed to the sun after the young wood has ripened; indeed, 
if camellias be perfectly healthy and sound at the root, and have 
a plentiful supply of water, they will require no shade at all; it 
is only when they have been much exposed to the action of frost 
in the winter that it is required, in which case they should be 
shaded from the hot May sun till the young shoots are pretty 
well ripened. It may be taken as a general rule, that if the 
frost in the winter produces a transparency towards the centre 
of the leaf, the rays of the spring sun, if suffered to bear upon 
it, will generally turn the parts brown that have been so af¬ 
fected, and the leaf will drop. Plants, however, that are not in 
a free state of growth will seldom suffer in this way; four or 
five years is the average longevity of the camellia leaf, and with 
good management it may be kept green and healthy a year or 
two longer, though we often see the plants, when they have not 
had due attention, carry but one or two years foliage, these, ex¬ 
cept when in bloom, have an unsightly appearance. 
“ The soil I have found most proper for camellias depends in 
a great measure on their age : for seedlings or young cuttings 
intended for stocks or otherwise, when first potted off, I use 
good fat bog mould, fresh dug, broken rough with the turf and 
film adhering, mixed with a little white sand, taking care to 
have a good drainage by filling the pot about one fourth with 
well-shaken turf. I never allow but one piece of broken pot laid 
hollow over each hole in the pot, for unlike the Erica or Epacris, 
which delight in shallow soil with a loose bottom, the natural 
abode of the camellia is in a deep rich soil, consequently, I have 
always found the roots perish as soon as they get into a handful of 
small potsherds, which some cultivators put into the bottom of 
the pot. At the next shifting I mix a little light turfy loam with 
the peat, and at each successive shift increase the proportion of 
loam; and for old plants, I use about an equal quantity of loam 
and bog mould. 
“ A collection of Camellias may be kept in bloom from 
