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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  22,  1898. 
long-stemmed  flowers,  and  even  in  dinner-table  decorations  they  may 
leased  with  fine  effect  if  lighter  materials  are  associated  with  them. 
Although  Camellias  arc  not  universally  popular  as  buttonhole 
flowere  at  the  present  time,  there  is  certainly  a  fair  demand  for 
some  varieties  for  that  purpose,  not  perhaps  among  the  elite  of  the 
land,  but  among  the  workers  in  largo  manufacturing  towns.  Flowers 
now  play  so  important  a  part  in  the  lives  of  town-dwellers  that  culti¬ 
vators  find  it,  in  some  cases,  as  profitable  to  cater  for  the  wants  of  the 
masses  as  for  the  favoured  few,  because  directly  the  cost  of  production 
can  be  brought  low  enough  to  secure  purchasers  among  the  toilers, 
the  cfuantitics  which  can  bo  disposed  of  are  at  once  enormousl}- 
ktcrcased.  When  one  has  large  healthy  Camellias  planted  out,  which 
are  capable  of  producing  blooms  by  the  thousand,  the  cost  of  produc¬ 
tion  is  little,  as  only  enough  fire  heat  is  needed  to  keep  out  frosti 
and  other  cultural  items  are  simple  matters  of  watering,  feeding,  and 
syringing,  which  do  not  entail  a  great  amount  of  labour  throughout 
the  year. 
Anyone  having  such  trees  will  do  well  to  give  them  a  little  extra 
attention,  for  even  at  present  prices  I  consider  Camellias  pay  fairly 
well.  Twenty  years  ago  the  wholesale  price  for  blooms  was  from 
Is.  io  6s.  per  dozen,  now  prices  range  from  a  shilling  to  half  a  crown. 
The  white  varieties  are  in  the  greatest  demand,  as  during  the  time 
they  are  in  season  there  are  few  flowers — if  we  except  Callas  — 
Tioore  suitable  for  supplying  boldness  to  large  wreaths.  When 
associated  with  Lily  of  the  Valley,  Roman  Hyacinths,  white  Primulas, 
©eutzin  gracilis,  or  flowers  of  similar  style,  good  Camellias  are  seen 
to  advantage. 
Next  to  the  white  varieties,  pale  pink  or  rose  and  good  striped  ones 
are  the  most  in  demand.  Deep  reds  seem  to  be  quite  out  of  favour, 
and  do  not  sell  readily,  hut  in  private  places  they  prove  very  useful 
for  decorative  work  at  Christmas  time.  To  have  Camellias  in  flower 
during  November  and  December,  the  trees  should  be  induced  to  make 
their  growth  emly  by  closing  the  heuse  and  thoroughly  syringing 
en  bright  days  in  spring,  as  so  an  as  the  flowers  have  all  been 
gathered.  It  is  a  bad  practice  to  attempt  to  force  them  into 
flower  by  applying  heat  and  keeping  the  house  close ;  when  this  is 
done  the  buds  frequently  drop  in  shoals,  even  if  correct  treatment 
has  been  followed  in  regard  to  watering  at  the  root. 
Lc-t  mo  here  emphasise  the  fact  that  correct  watering  is 
perhaps  the  m  st  important  matter  connected  with  Camellia 
growincr.  To  conduct  it  successfully  it  is  necessary  to  first  ascer¬ 
tain  the  condition  of  the  drainage  of  the  border  or  pot.  When 
this  is  in  good  order  and  roots  abundant,  Camellias  require  a  great 
amount  of  water  while  the  buds  are  swelling;  if  once  they  become 
thoroughly  dry  at  this  stage,  numbers  of  buds  will  surely  drop  or 
tarn  brown.  Sometimes  the  surface  soil  will  appear  quite  mo:sS 
while  the  mass  of  roots  near  the  stem  are  surrounded  by  thoroughly 
dry  soil.  This  is  a  matter  which  has  to  be  carefully  watched,  and  if 
through  any  error  it  does  occur,  a  basin  ought  to  he  formed  around  the 
stem  and  be  kept  filled  with  water  for  several  hours.  Whenever 
watering  is  done  it  must  be  thorough,  so  as  to  moisten  every  particle 
of  soil  in  the  pot  or  border.  Careful  observation  will  soon  show  the 
cultivator  when  to  water,  and  with  trees  in  good  condition  the  matter 
fe  simple  enough. 
Unfortunately,  however,  cultivators  sometimes  take  charge  ot  trees 
which  have  very  few  roots,  the  soil  surrounding  them  being  sour  and 
sodden.  Such  are  difficult  to  deal  with,  and  require  to  ba  “left 
severely  alone”  for  a  timn,  till  the  soil  gets  dry  and  sweet.  Abundance 
of  air  given  on  all  favourable  occasions  wilFhelp  to  accelerate  this, 
and  when  water  is  given  it  ought  to  be  several  degrees  warmer  than 
the  temperature  of  the  house,  just  enough  being  applied  to  moisten 
tito  whole  of  the  soil.  Just  before  growth  commences  in  spring  a 
few  inches  of  soil  should  bo  removed  till  sun  a  roots  arc  found; 
the  large  ones  must  he  notched,  and  fresh  soil  placed  over 
them  so  as  to  cover  them  to  a  depth  of  2  inches,  the  object 
being  to  obtain  a  few  surface  roots  if  possible.  When  this  has 
been  accomplishe  1,  the  following  year  a  trench  can  be  taken  out 
splint!  each  plant,  the  drainage  rc- arranged,  anl  fresh  soil  aided. 
Treatel  in  this  way,  very  large  trees  may  often  be  brought  into 
perfect  health  again,  whereas  if  disturbed  too  much  in  the  first 
instance  disaster  instead  of  success  is  the  result. 
Camellias  often  thrive  splendidly  in  pure  fibrous  loam  inclined  to 
stiffness,  but  they  should  never  be  placed  in  that  alone  if  they  have 
previously  been  grown  in  a  mixture  composed  largely  of  peat ;  in 
such  instances  equal  parts  of  peat  aud  loam,  with  sharp  sand  added, 
is  suitable.  Plants  that  have  been  grown  in  loam  may  with  safety 
be  placed  in  loam  again  if  it  contain  plenty  of  fibre;  if  not,  fibrous 
peat  ought  to  be  added.  When  Camellias  are  grown  in  light  houses 
it  is  necessary  to  shade  in  some  way  during  the  growiug  season. 
One  of  the  many  prepared  shadings  applied  with  a  brush  answers 
quite  as  well  as  providing  blinds,  aud  is  more  economical.  After 
growth  is  completed  abundance  of  air  should  he  given  night  and 
day,  and  when  the  flowers  are  opening  the  house  ought  to  be  freely 
ventilated  whenever  it  can  be  done  without  admitting  frosty  air 
or  fog.  Should  it  at  any  time  be  necessary  to  hasten  the  expansion 
of  the  blooms,  this  must  be  done  by  just  warming  the  hot-water 
pipes  at  night  and  during  wet  or  cold  days,  always  leaving  the  top 
ventilators  slightly  open  when  the  thermometer  in  the  open  air  is 
above  35°. — II.  D. 
PRUNING  FOR  FRUIT. 
Of  course!  Is  not  that  what  everyone  does?  AVcll  no,  it  is 
certainly  what  all  desire  to  do,  but  unless  the  pruner  is  a  master  of 
his  art  he  will  assuredly  make  mistakes,  and  it  is  quite  possible  his 
efforts  may  induce  barrenness  instead  of  fruitfulness  in  the  trees  under 
his  care. 
I  send  a  photograph  which  is  an  example  of  “  pruning  for  fruit.” 
Iu  1894  the  owner  of  this  old  Jargonelle  Pear  tree  asked  me  to  look 
at  it,  and  to  say  if  it  were  possible  to  obtain  any  fruit  from  it.  It 
was  in  the  autumn,  and  I  found  upon  the  branches  a  crowd  of  shoots 
sturdy,  stout,  and  strong,  for  the  tree  was  perfectly  healthy  ;  these 
shoots,  the  growth  of  that  year,  being  about  a  yard  in  length.  I  was 
told  that  for  many  years  the  tree  had  put  forth  similar  growth,  which 
each  winter  was  primed  in  to  two  or  three  buds,  only  to  make  similar 
growth  the  following  year  without  any  fruit  being  had. 
This  barrenness  was  solely  owing  to  injudicious  pruning.  The 
remedy  was  as  simple  as  sure.  Retain  the  shoots  unshortened  about 
2  feet  apart  upon  the  whole  of  the  branches,  spur  in  the  others 
to  three  or  four  buds,  and  the  wasteful  vigour  of  barren  growth  will 
be  checked,  blossom  buds  will  appear,  and  in  due  course  there  will  be 
a  full  crop  of  fruit.  This  advice  was  followed,  blossom  buds  came 
more  thickly  each  year,  till  in  1897  the  tree  was  just  a  cloud  of 
blossom,  and  it  was  photographed  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  Matlock. 
It  will  doubtless  occur  to  many  a  proficient  fruit  grower  that 
recourse  may  be  had  to  root-pruniDg  in  such  a  case,  as  that  would 
have  checked  undue  vigour  of  growth  sufficiently  to  induce  the 
development  of  fruit  buds  upon  the  spurs,  and  to  admit  of  clcse 
pruning  being  continued.  I  agree  ;  only  in  this  instance  the  tree  was 
against  the  end  of  a  building  in  a  paved  yard,  which  could  not  he 
disturbed. 
A  somewhat  similar  case  of  uudue  vigour  and  difficulties  about 
root-pruning  was  that  of  a  young  Plum  tree,  which  was  planted  some 
four  years  before  I  was  consulted,  in  a  border  about  2  feet  wide  against 
a  house.  The  roots  were  mainly  under  a  wide  terrace  path  of  tar  gravel 
concrcle.  The  branches  bad  made  growih  of  wonderful  vigour,  which 
had  been  shortened  and  the  lateral  shoots  spur-pruned  each  autumn, 
without  any  sign  of  blossom.  I  am  unlikely  to  ever  forget  the 
owner’s  look  of  incredulous  astonishment  when  I  told  him  to  take  a 
hand  saw  and  cut  halfway  through  the  stem  near  the  ground. 
But  he  “  saw  light  ”  when  it  was  explained  that  with  such  a  mass 
of  rich  sod  for  the  roots  to  revel  in,  fruit  was  an  impossibility  under 
the  close  pruning  of  branch  growth,  which  was  unavoidable  in  such  a 
position.  Well,  the  saw  was  used,  aud  the  effect  was  entirely  satis¬ 
factory,  for  when  I  saw  the  tree  again  in  the  following  autumn  lateral 
growth  had  been  so  well  checked  that  there  was  a  delightful  lot  of 
blossom  bills,  and  the  branch  growth,  though  less  vigorous,  was  suffi¬ 
ciently  so  for  development.  The  happy  mean  had  been  obtained  of 
gradual  development  in  conjunction  with  fruitfulness. 
A  much  older  tree  was  that  clothing  part  of  one  side  of  a  country 
vicarage  where  I  was  holding  a  garden  demonstration.  Healthy  and 
barren,  what  could  bo  done  to  induce  it  to  bear  fruit  without  disturb¬ 
ance  of  the  narrow  flower  border  and  path?  Advice  to  saw  half 
through  the  stem  led  to  a  very  useful  discussion,  which  brought  out  a 
local  case  of  a  wall  Pear  tree  barren  and  very  vigorous  ou  a  farm 
building.  A  goat  got  at  the  bark  and  ate  all  it  could  get  at,  but  the 
