208 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
them in a tan bed, and keep them close and moist. By the 
middle of April I have ripe shoots (forced early) for scions of 
the same year’s growth. With these I go on in succession and 
continue grafting throughout the summer: but for those who 
have not a large quantity to do, I would recommend August as 
the best time for the operation, taking care to have the stocks 
shifted about two months before they are used. Having kept 
them close after grafting for about six weeks or two months, 
they will begin to swell and burst the cerements with which they 
are bound ; they may then be considered as fairly united, but 
should be kept in a close frame or pit throughout the summer. 
In the choice of scions I would recommend particular atten¬ 
tion to the young shoot when first formed, and before the leaves 
are quite expanded, for the following reason, which, as I have 
never seen noticed before, I do not know whether it has ever 
been observed or had that attention paid to it which I consider 
it deserves. It is well known that camellias often run from their 
colours, for instance a plant, of a variety which should be 
blotched with white on a crimson or scarlet ground, such as the 
old double variegated, Chandlerii, or Corallina, may often be 
seen entirely red, or perhaps one shoot will bear red flowers and 
the rest of the tree will have them blotched, and these pro¬ 
perties or peculiar modes are entailed by grafting; for instance 
a graft from a branch bearing red flowers will produce a tree 
having the same tendency, at any rate, probably for some years 
successively. It then becomes a desideratum to judge what 
shoots should be selected for producing flow 7 ers having the de¬ 
sired colours in best perfection. Shall I be considered visionary 
if I assert that rules may be laid down whereby we may judge 
from the appearance of the foliage of a plant or even shoot 
what will be the colour of the flowers? My own experience 
leads me to judge that such is the case. To explain my mean¬ 
ing let me lead my reader to a plant of C. tricolor, or any 
other strongly marked variety, and let him take a shoot just ex¬ 
panding, the leaves of which are about half grown; if he 
examines the leaves he will observe what at first appears faint 
lines of red intersecting the brighter green of the leaf; by a 
closer observation he will see there are two shades of red ; he 
