!^^?^^^~jJ'SL^;SJS!vi_«5^^^'S?S<^_S 
 
 
U' 
 
 Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2009 witii funding from 
 
 NCSU Libraries 
 
 littp://www.arcli ive.org/details/practicalcamelliOOIiall 
 
^ 
 
GROUP OF CAMELLIA FLOWERS 
 
PRACTICAL CAMELLIA CULTURE: 
 
 A TREATISE 
 
 The Propagation and Culture 
 
 Camellia J 
 
 AMELLIA JAPONICA. 
 
 ROBERT J. HALLIDAY, 
 
 FLORIST, BALTIMORE, M D. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 BALTIMORE, Maryland. 
 
 1880. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, 1880, by 
 
 ROBERT J. HALLIDAY, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Bakeu <j^ GuDwiN, Printebs, 
 25 Park liow, N. Y. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In the following pages are embodied the results of 
 more than twenty years' experience in the propagation 
 and culture of the Camellia Japonica. 
 
 Though much has been written concerning the cultiva- 
 tion of this greatly admired plant, I do not think that any 
 book has been published in England or America which is 
 devoted exclusively to it. A great variety of opinions are 
 held concerning the propagation and treatment of the 
 Camellia, and, as long and patient observation and labor 
 have enabled me to become one of its most successful cul- 
 tivators, I do not doubt that the present work will be in 
 some degree acceptable. 
 
 I do not write for the instruction of experienced culti- 
 vators, who are already familiar with the propagation of 
 this plant, but for those of limited experience, amateur 
 gardeners, owners of small conservatories, and for all who 
 desire practical knowledge on this subject. 
 
 I have frequently been solicited for information on the 
 culture of the Camellia, and more especially for the pro- 
 cess of growing alba pletia successfully from cuttings; for 
 this process is new even to many large growers, who are 
 thoroughly acquainted with all the methods of inarching, 
 
 3 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 grafting, or growing the single and double red from cut- 
 tings. 
 
 In the following pages it is my endeavor to present all 
 the knowledge which I possess on the subject, in the plain 
 language of a practical Camellia grower, and I hope those 
 desiring information may find some profit and instruction 
 in their perusal. 
 
 R. J. HALLIDAY. 
 
 Baltimore City, Md., April, 1880. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Why I do not grow single stocks. — The best white Camellias, 
 and how they are grown by many florists 17 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 Disadvantages of the old method of growing alba pletia and 
 all double varieties, and superior profitableness of the 
 new 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The wholesale and retail price of the single red Camellias, 
 also of the alba plena, grown from cuttings, one, two 
 and three years old 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 How to propagate alba plena Camellias. — What is needed 
 tor the cutting bed. — Kind of sand to use. — Engraving 
 showing five thousand alba plena cuttings five eyes 
 long. — Engraving of box of cuttings two eyes long. — 
 Time to take cuttings from the plant.— Cuttings from 
 
 young wood 23 
 
 5 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Length and size of cuttings. — Engraving showing cutting 
 five eyes long; also, engraving showing cutting two eyes 
 long. — The best cutting for amateurs and those of Hm- 
 ited experience to adopt 27 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Engraving showing the kind of cutting for the single stock, 
 or the double red varieties. — Advantages of long cut- 
 tings. — Number of cuttings you will get from a moder- 
 ate sized plant 29 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The kind of wood to use. — How to prepare the sand-bed. 
 — Engraving showing two hundred cuttings one eye 
 long. — Directions for watering the sand-bed, etc 31 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Time to put cuttings in the sand-bed. — Quantity of heat 
 required. — The amount of knowledge requisite to grow 
 them. — Cleanliness of bed, etc 34 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 How long to leave cuttings in the sand. — Length of time in 
 rooting. — I do not allow cuttings to make but one 
 growth. — Engraving of alba plena eight months in 
 sand-bed. — The size of pot required for cuttings. — 
 Treatment after being taken from the sand-bed 37 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Engraving of alba plena well rooted, but without eyes or 
 shoots. — How to care for them, and have them form 
 new eyes 40 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Engraving showing alba plena cutting when potted in June, 
 
 all eyes dead ; April following making one shoot 42 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 Engraving of alba plena cutting of two eyes. — Eight months 
 
 in the sand-bed. — Newly potted June the first 44 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 Engraving of alba plena cutting five eyes, one year old, in 
 
 a pot. — How to care for them. — When to re-pot 45 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Engraving showing alba plena two years old, from a cutting 
 
 of two eyes, with one bud 48 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Engraving showing alba plena two years old, from a five- 
 eye cutting, without flower buds 49 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Engraving of alba plena three years old from a cutting. — 
 Also engraving showing the same plant cut back to 
 form a bushy plant for the fourth season. — Directions 
 for treating the same 50 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Engraving showing double red, three years old. — How many 
 of the red varieties to grow in proportion to the white. 
 — When I resort to grafting 53 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Engraving showing alba plena four years old, from cutting 
 
 of five eyes. — Present price of this size '. 55 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Alba plena planted out in greenhouse. — Engraving of my 
 double-pitch Camellia house, one hundred feet long by 
 thirty-two feet wide, — Engraving of my lean-to house, 
 seventy-five feet long by sixteen feet wide. — The way 
 to grow Camellia flowers for profit 57 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Plants in pots and tubs. — When they require re-potting, 
 top dressing, etc 61 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 How to water plants. — The quantity of water required. — 
 Three important matters in growing Camellias. — How 
 to have fine flowers 64 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Time to re-pot large Camellias 66 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The remedy for alba plena ■ flowers when they open a 
 yellowish color. — Putting plants outside in summer. — 
 The kind of a daj' that Camellias should be put out in 
 the open air 68 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Will Camellias stand forcing? — Proper time for them to 
 flower. — Proper treatment. — The number of flowers I 
 cut from the fifteenth of December to the middle of 
 January. — Treatment while growing, pruning, etc 70 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 On Camellia candidissinia. — Engravmg showing the flower- 
 ing variety 72 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 On the worthless kind of candidisshna. — The variety that 
 
 never blooms 74 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Design of house for amateurs ; the cost of erecting it. — How 
 to grow Camellias with other plants. — How to treat 
 them during the summer months 76 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 On grafting. — Five engravings showing single stock. — Single 
 stock grafted. — The best mode of grafting. — The frame 
 to receive the grafts. — Grafted plant, one year old. — 
 Grafted plant, tv/o years old 81 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 On grafting for amateurs, or for those who have a small 
 collection of Camellias. — Engraving showing how single 
 plants can be grafted successfully, with comparatively 
 little labor. — Also engraving of an ancient process of 
 
 inarching 86 
 
 I* 
 
lO CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On inarching. — Five engravings showing how inarching 
 should be done. — Engraving of a six-year-old inarched 
 plant. — Engraving of a four-year-old alba plena grown 
 from a cutting 90 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 On Camellia Japonica for window gardening, also for bay 
 
 windows, and small conservatories 97 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 Soil for Camellias 100 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Names of Camellias that I grow for profit. — The four best 
 
 white varieties , loi 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Eighteen of the best colored varieties : six double red, six 
 
 double rose color, six double striped 102 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 How to box and ship Camellias. — The current prices for 
 
 them. — By whom they are principally bought 104 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 How long Camellia flowers will keep after being cut from 
 the bush 107 
 
CONTENTS. II 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fertilizers. — What to use io8 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 On insects and pests to which CamelHas are subject. — Red 
 spider, mealy bug, scale, etc. — Wash for the pipes, 
 etc 109 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 On heating ' 112 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 Syringing 116 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 Ventilating the CameUia houses 118 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 On shading. — To prevent the foliage from burning 120 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 On packing Camellia plants 122 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 On pruning large Camellia plants ^20 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The great necessity for using only the healthiest plants for 
 cuttings, grafting and inarching. — No improvement to 
 be reached by forcing the plants 128 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 Calendar for months 1 30 
 
 CHAPTER XLVH. 
 Camellia catalogue 137 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. I . — Cutting from a single eye 17 
 
 Fig. 2. — Single Camellia stock, three years old 19 
 
 Fig. 3. — Represents five thousand alba plena cuttings in 
 
 sand-bed. — Month of November. ... 24 
 
 Fig. 4. — Fourteen-inch square box of cuttings. Two 
 
 eyes 25 
 
 Fig. 5. — Cutting five eyes long 27 
 
 Fig. 6. — Cuttings two eyes long 28 
 
 Fig. 7. — Cutting from a single eye 29 
 
 Fig. 8. — Box 14 by 14 inches. Two hundred cuttings. One 
 
 eye long 32 
 
 Fig. 9. — November cutting rooted the June following 38 
 
 Fig. 10. — Cutting well rooted, with shoots or eyes dropped 
 
 off or dead 40 
 
 Fig. \\.—Alba plena eighteen months old, showing one 
 
 shoot 42 
 
 Fig. 12. — Alba plena cutting from two eyes 44 
 
 Fig. 13. — Cutting of five eyes, plant one year old 45 
 
 Fig. 14. — Cutting of five eyes 47 
 
 Fig. 15. — Alba pletia, two years old, with one bud 48 
 
 Fig. 16. — Alba pletia^ two years old, without buds, from a 
 
 cutting of five eyes 49 
 
 Fig, 17. — Alba plena, three years old, of five eyes 50 
 
 Fig. 18. — Three-year-old alba ple7ra, with top cut off 52 
 
 Fig. 19. — Double red, three years old, from a cutting of five 
 
 eyes 53 
 
 Fig. 20. — Alba plena, four years from cutting — five eyes. . . 55 
 Fig. 21. — My span roof house, 100 feet long by 30 feet 
 
 wide 58 
 
 Fig. 22. — My lean-to house, seventy-five feet long by six- 
 teen feet wide 60 
 
 13 
 
14 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. 23. — Alba plena in tub. Thirty years old 62 
 
 Fig. 24. — Ca7ididissima. The flowering variety 72 
 
 Fig. 25. — Candidissima. The worthless variety 74 
 
 Fig. 26. — " Camellia" house, for amateurs and others 76 
 
 Fig. 27 — Single stock, with openings to receive the grafts. 81 
 
 Fig. 28. — Grafts inserted and tied to the stock 82 
 
 Fig. 29. — Frame to receive the grafted plants 83 
 
 Fig. 30. — Alba plena, one year from grafts 84 
 
 Fig. 31. — Alba plena, two years from grafts 85 
 
 Fig. 32. — Grafting for amateurs 87 
 
 Fig. 33. — Grafting with bell glass 88 
 
 Fig. 00. — Inarching for amateurs 88 
 
 Fig. 34. — Single stock in condition for inarching "90 
 
 Fig. 35. — Alba plena to be inarched on the stock 91 
 
 Fig. 36. — Plants in an inarched state 92 
 
 Fig. 37. — The inarch growing 93 
 
 Fig. 38. — Inarched plant, six months old 93 
 
 Fig. 39. — Inarched plant, three years old, or six years from 
 
 a cutting 94 
 
 Fig. 40. — Alba plena, four years old, grown from a cutting 
 
 of five eyes 95 
 
 Fig. 41. — Base-burning boiler for a conservatory 98 
 
 Fig. 42. — Box for packing Camellia flowers 104 
 
 Fig. 43. — Box for summer packing of plants 122 
 
 COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I. — Frontispiece. Group of Camellia Flowers, 
 2. — Camellia Japonica. 
 3. — Camellia Alba Plena. 
 4. — Camellia Imbricata. 
 5. — Camellia Sarah Frost. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Camellia belongs to a natural order (the Camel- 
 liacece) of exogenous plants and shrubs which are widely 
 distributed over the globe, and include several genera and 
 species of great economic value. Among these are the tea 
 plant {Camellia Bohca and vindis), also the English holly, 
 and on this continent the Loblolly bays and Stuartias. 
 
 The Camellias proper are all natives of India, China 
 and Japan, and receive their generic name of Camellia 
 from George Joseph Kamel, D.D., a German Jesuit mis- 
 sionary to Luzon, who, like many of his confraternity, was 
 a botanist. He brought them to Europe in 1739. There 
 are many species, all marked by like texture of leaf and 
 shrub-like growth, but not all bearing fine flowers. 
 Some have seeds yielding a valuable oil (C. oleifera) re- 
 garded as equal to that of the olive. The two species 
 most admired for their flowers are Camellia Jap07iica and 
 Camellia reticulata. There are also some hybrids of these 
 two, greatly prized for their beauty. The Catnellia Japoii- 
 ica has its specific name from Japan, where it is largely 
 cultivated, but it is probably indigenous in both China and 
 Japan. The plant, in its wild state, bears red and single 
 flowers, and is grown both in China and Japan from the 
 seed, which is often one year in vegetating. The Chinese 
 
 15 
 
l6 IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 and Japanese have man)' skillful florists, and they have 
 produced numerous varieties and sub-species, and of va- 
 ried and beautiful colors and combinations of colors. 
 Since their introduction into Europe and America, new 
 varieties of exquisite beauty have been constantly pro- 
 duced by the eminent English, Dutch, German, French, 
 Italian and American florists, who have devoted much time 
 and labor to its propagation. Twenty-five years ago, there 
 were forty-five standard varieties recognized, but the genius 
 of European and American Camellia growers have annually 
 increased the number, till there are now more than two 
 hundred. The Camellia has all the beauty of the rose, 
 though it lacks its fragrance, and blooming as it does 
 during the late autumn, winter, and early spring, it sup- 
 plies what would otherwise be a most serious lack in the 
 floral world. 
 
 In this work is given the first thorough and complete 
 treatise on the cultivation of the Ca7nellia Japonica, and 
 one not borrowed from other works, but from my own 
 careful study and observation of more than twenty years. 
 It will, I have no doubt, be hailed with delight by every 
 true lover of the " Rose of Japan." 
 
 ROBT. J. HALLIDAY. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 ^ 
 
 WHY I DO NOT GROW SINGLE STOCK. THE BEST WHITE 
 
 CAMELLIAS, AND HOW THEY ARE GROWN BY MANY 
 FLORISTS. 
 
 The single red Camellia Japonica, whose flower is rep- 
 resented by the colored plate, is generally used by florists 
 as the " stock " on which to " work " the double varieties 
 by inarching or grafting. 
 
 Inarched or grafted plants 
 are usually spoken of by florists 
 as the " worked " plants. 
 
 The single red is generally 
 propagated by cuttings of well- 
 ripened wood placed in the 
 sand-bed during the month of 
 November. 
 
 Fig. I represents the cut- 
 ting from a single eye or joint. 
 Cuttings of this variety will 
 root freely in from two to three 
 months, but it will be three 
 years before they are fit to use 
 I" 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 Cutting from a single eye. 
 
l8 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 as stocks on which to work the double varieties by either 
 inarching or grafting. 
 
 I prefer grafting to inarching the Camellia, although I 
 seldom use either process, as, for the past ten years, my 
 mode of propagating all varieties of this plant has been 
 from cuttings. 
 
 As all the double varieties are just as easily grown 
 from cuttings, and the single red is only used as a" stock," 
 I do not grow it at all, having no use for it. 
 
 The cuttings, as I take them, root freely, and grow 
 equally as well as though they were inarched or grafted, 
 and with only one-half the labor and expense. They will 
 also make the handsomest shaped plants. 
 
 Alba plena (old double white) is in my estimation 
 the best white variety, although we have many new vari- 
 eties, and are constantly adding to our catalogues. It 
 has the preference with all large growers. 
 
 Nearly all florists propagate this variety, and increase 
 their stock by growing the single stock and working the 
 double kinds by inarching or grafting. 
 
 Fifteen years ago, grafting was the new method of 
 working the Camellias, and is the only method used by 
 many of the growers at the present time, and we must all 
 admit it is a much better and quicker mode than the old 
 style of inarching. However, at the present day, the pro- 
 cess of growing successfully all the double red varieties, 
 and alba plena also, from cuttings, excels grafting, in- 
 arching, and all other methods, as you will find explained 
 in the following chapters. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DISADVANTAGES OF THE OLD METHOD OF GROWING OF 
 ALBA PLENA AND ALL DOUBLE VARIETIES, AND 
 SUPERIOR PROFITABLENESS OF THE NEW. 
 
 It requires three years to grow good 
 single stocks before they are in condition 
 to inarch or graft, and two years more for 
 the inarch or graft to grow, making the 
 plant five years old before it is a salable 
 double variety. During all these years 
 much labor must be expended, and con- 
 siderable space occupied in the various 
 processes of their growth. Inarching re- 
 quires a great amount of room for staging, 
 and for grafting a frame is needed inside 
 the house. 
 
 All persons are not successful in the 
 processes of inarching or grafting, the 
 slightest relaxation of care producing dis- 
 astrous results. 
 
 Simple as grafting may appear, I have 
 seen on my place, from one thousand graft- 
 ed Camellias only two hundred living 
 plants, the remaining eight hundred, both 
 stock and graft, being dead. This failure 
 was caused by neglecting to air and keep 
 
 the frame cool. 
 
 19 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 Single Camellia 
 Stock, three 
 years old. 
 
20 CAMELLIA CULTURE, 
 
 Fig. 2 represents a well-grown single stock three years 
 old, and is worth only ten dollars per hundred. 
 
 My way of growing the double varieties from cuttings, 
 makes the plants salable in three years. They are from 
 twelve to fifteen inches high, with from two to three buds. 
 Many of them when two years old, are from eight to ten 
 inches high, with from one to two buds on each plant. 
 
 Alba plena, three years old, with no more extra labor 
 to grow than the single stock grown by the old method, 
 is worth, with flower buds, forty dollars per hundred, 
 and at two years old, with buds, is worth twenty dollars 
 per hundred. 
 
 From the above information you can easily calculate 
 which is the best and most profitable method of growing 
 this plant. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICE OF THE SINGLE 
 RED CAMELLIA, ALSO OF THE ALBA PLENA, GROWN 
 FROM CUTTINGS, ONE, TWO AND THREE YEARS OLD. 
 
 The single Camellia stock, when in flower, three years 
 old, will rarely bring, at retail price, twenty-five cents 
 apiece, and in fact there are but few persons who will 
 have it at any price. Alba plena Camellias, grown from 
 cuttings at three years old, v/ith from two to four buds, 
 are worth, at retail price, seventy-five cents to one dollar 
 apiece. A two-year-old alba plena, with one and two 
 buds, retail at fifty cents. A one-year-old alba plena, 
 without buds, is worth more than a single stock at three 
 years old. 
 
 The present price, wholesale, for alba plena without 
 buds, one year old, is ten dollars per hundred. 
 
 Single stock, three years old (all this time to grow), is 
 only worth ten dollars per hundred. 
 
 Alba plena (old double white) will take longer to 
 root than the red varieties. See Chapter IX. 
 
 My experience has taught me to grow all Camellias 
 from cuttings. 
 
 Many growers will say that alba plena will not do as 
 well on their own roots as if they were inarched or 
 grafted. 
 
 They are mistaken in this. Perhaps they cannot root 
 them, or they have never seen them grown in this way. 
 
22 CAMF.LLIA CULTURE. 
 
 All such persons I cordially invite to visit my estab- 
 lishment, where thousands of all sizes can be seen at any 
 time. 
 
 I prefer growing from cuttings, and I think the major- 
 ity of the trade will also, as soon as they learn the quick 
 and profitable modes of increasing them. 
 
 Thirty years ago we were taught that the double red 
 varieties could not be grown from cuttings; and such a 
 thing as rooting alba plena as easily as the common single 
 red was not thought of. 
 
 To many thousands of those in the trade at the pres- 
 ent time it is something new. 
 
 I believe that in the course of from five to ten years 
 all the double varieties will be grown altogether from 
 cuttings by Camellia growers, just as the rose is growing 
 now. Inarching and grafting will be with the past. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW TO PROPAGATE ALBA PLENA CAMELLIAS. WHAT 
 
 IS NEEDED FOR THE CUTTING BED. KIND OF SAND 
 
 TO USE. — ENGRAVING SHOWING FIVE THOUSAND 
 ALBA PLENA CUTTINGS FIVE EYES LONG. ENGRAV- 
 ING OF BOX OF CUTTINGS TWO EYES LONG. TIME 
 
 TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM THE PLANT. CUTTINGS 
 
 FROM YOUNG WOOD. 
 
 Most florists have a house or bench which they use 
 for the propagation of cuttings. 
 
 Place Camellia cuttings in the coolest part of the 
 house. 
 
 They require a longer time to root than almost any 
 other cutting, therefore put them on that portion of the 
 bench where they will not be likely to be disturbed. 
 
 For the propagating bench use good sharp sand, from 
 either a bank or river, white, brown or black. There is 
 no virtue in the color of it, although many persons believe 
 there is something to be gained by using a particular 
 color. 
 
 The success in propagation depends more on the per- 
 son in charge than anything else. 
 
 Sand is very frequently blamed when it is not in fault. 
 
 Use a sieve for separating the sand from gravel and 
 and clay. It is not necessary to wash the sand, as is so 
 often recommended, for the cutting bed. 
 
 23 
 
24 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 25 
 
 Fig. 3 shows my Camellia cutting bench, forty feet 
 long by four feet wide. It contains five thousand alba 
 plena cuttings in sand. 
 
 Have heat underneath this bench, so as to give gentle 
 bottom heat when required. 
 
 On this bed there are three inches of sand. The cut- 
 tings are two feet from the glass. 
 
 I would advise all those who do not grow Camellias 
 very extensively to use, for propagation, wooden boxes 
 fourteen inches square, three inches deep with sand. For 
 a sketch of this box, see Fig. 4. 
 
 Fig. 4. Fourteen-inch square box of cuttings. Two eyes. 
 
 The cuttings will require very little heat until they are 
 one month or six weeks in the sand. 
 
 By using boxes for the cuttings, they can be moved 
 easily to the heated part of the house, and wh2re they can 
 get the benefit of bottom heat. 
 
26 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 I prefer to take cuttings during the month of Novem- 
 ber. The wood at this time is well ripened, and we can 
 tell which shoots will produce flower buds. 
 
 I take off all shoots that are not showing buds. 
 
 Camellias generally form their buds during July and 
 August. The buds are as large as peas by the time we 
 take the cuttings. 
 
 They seldom or never form buds after the above- 
 named months. 
 
 It will not be a difficult matter to distinguish a wood 
 bud from a flower bud. 
 
 The cuttings can be rooted at any time from June to 
 January. 
 
 I recommend placing cuttings in the sand-bed during 
 the month of November, to avoid using wood, which is 
 going to produce flowers. Earlier than the month men- 
 tioned, it would be impossible for many to distinguish the 
 wood bud from the flower bud. 
 
 Cuttings of the young wood will root freely and in one- 
 half the time of ripened wood, but double the amount of 
 care and attention will be necessary for them. 
 
 Sometimes I grow from young wood, but ripened wood 
 makes the most healthy and vigorous plants. 
 
 Cutting the young wood from plants in the spring, 
 for propagation, will often force the parent plant to make 
 what I call a second growth. The result of this will be 
 no flowers the coming fall and winter, therefore I would 
 advise all Camellia growers to adopt the hard wood system 
 and November propagation. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 LENGTH AND SIZE OF CUTTINGS. ENGRAVING SHOWING 
 
 CUTTING FIVE EYES LONG ; ALSO, ENGRAVING SHOW- 
 ING CUTTING TWO EYES LONG. THE BEST CUTTING 
 
 FOR AMATEURS AND THOSE OF LIMITED EXPERIENCE 
 TO ADOPT. 
 
 The house sand-bed or box being ready to accommo- 
 date the cuttings, a question of great importance is to 
 
 be considered, 
 which will be 
 the best length 
 of cutting to 
 use ? Having 
 wood for cut- 
 tings in great 
 abundance, I 
 can, without 
 any sacrifice, 
 cut branches 
 from four to 
 five eyes long. 
 (Fig. 5 repre- 
 sents a cutting 
 five eyes long.) 
 By using this length cutting, I have gained one year's 
 growth at the time of placing the cutting in the sand. 
 
 It will take a cutting of two eyes one year to make 
 the extra three eyes. Fig. 3 represents a bed of five 
 
 thousand alba plena five eyes long. 
 
 27 
 
 Fig. 5- 
 Cutting five eyes long. 
 
28 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 The cutting of five eyes long will not root any better 
 than the two eye. Your gain will evidently be made in 
 the size of the plant when it is ready for potting. 
 
 One great advantage to be derived from the five-eyed 
 cutting is, that when the plant is rooted and ready for 
 potting it will, in all probability, have three shoots, each 
 shoot being one inch in length. The plant will be of a 
 
 very good size, while the two- 
 eyed cutting will only make 
 one shoot 
 
 When the wood of alba 
 plena is not very abundant, 
 it would be much the better 
 911 P^^'^ ^° adopt the cutting of 
 mli two eyes, as shown in Fig. 6. 
 At the top of the cutting 
 there is one eye with a leaf. 
 The lower eye with the leaf 
 cut off is where the roots will 
 form. Where the wood is 
 scarce, this cutting will be 
 best and most profitable foi 
 use by amateurs and those of 
 limited experience in Camellia 
 growing. 
 
 Alba plena should alway 
 be made in this way, as wel 
 p. ^ as all plants of the hard wood 
 
 Cuttings two eyes long. kmd. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING THE KIND OF CUTTING FOR THE 
 
 SINGLE STOCK, OR THE DOUBLE RED VARIETIES. 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF LONG CUTTINGS. NUMBER OF CUT- 
 TINGS YOU WILL GET FROM A MODERATE SIZED 
 PLANT. 
 
 Figure 7 represents the propagation of the Camellia 
 from a single eye. From this system a greater number 
 
 of cuttings can be obtained 
 than from any other way. The 
 process of growing from a sin- 
 gle eye will do very well for the 
 single and double red varieties. 
 But I do not recommend it for 
 alba plena, which will root and 
 grow, but not until it has re- 
 mained a long time in the sand- 
 bed. And after they are rooted, 
 three-fourths of them will have 
 what is generally termed by 
 growers blind eyes, or the eyes 
 have rotted and fallen out. (See Chapter X, on this de- 
 fect after being rooted.) 
 
 For all varieties of Camellias, should you have plenty 
 of wood to cut from, adopt the cuttings as represented by 
 Figs. 5 and 6. It will take the one-jointed cutting, as 
 shown in Fig. 7, twelve months' from the time it is put in 
 
 the sand-bed, to grow to the size of Fig. 5 cuttings. 
 
 29 
 
 Fig. 7- 
 Cutting from a single eye. 
 
30 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Camellias do not grow and make wood as fast as the 
 soft-wooded class of plants ; therefore judgment and care 
 must necessarily be used in taking the cuttings from the 
 parent plant 
 
 Suppose a person who has twelve Camellia plants, and 
 for which he has paid twelve dollars. He would not be 
 able to get over two cuttings of the five-jointed kinds 
 from each of the twelve plants, in November, without 
 taking branches which have flower buds on. 
 
 The twelve plants would only produce twenty-four 
 cuttings of Fig. 5. Fifty cuttings will be produced by 
 the two-jointed system, as represented in Fig. 6 ; and by 
 the one-jointed system, as Fig. 7 represents, one hundred 
 or more cuttings will be obtained. 
 
 The wood of this plant is valuable on account of its 
 slow growth. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE KIND OF WOOD TO USE. — HOW TO PREPARE THE 
 
 SAND-BED. ENGRAVING SHOWING TWO HUNDRED 
 
 CUTTINGS ONE EYE LONG, — DIRECTIONS FOR WATER- 
 ING THE SAND-BED, &C. 
 
 The wood best adapted for cuttings is that of the 
 present season's growth. That is, shoots which have been 
 made in the spring, can be used for cuttings in the fall. 
 
 In taking cuttings from the parent plant, allow one or 
 two eyes of this season's growth to remain, to produce 
 new wood and flowering shoots for the next year. 
 
 All unripened wood should be discarded. Use none 
 but good, healthy, strong shoots for cuttings. 
 
 Never take wood from a sickly plant ; for one un- 
 healthy cutting often ruins the whole stock in the sand- 
 bed. See that the cuttings are free from all pests, such 
 as red spider, mealy bug, scale, &c. 
 
 Many persons fail to root cuttings by neglecting the 
 very important matter of having the sand solid and firm 
 on the bench. 
 
 If the directions have been followed, to have the sand 
 pressed solid and firm, it will be necessary to draw a line 
 across the bed, to make an opening for the cuttings ; after 
 placing them in this opening, press, with the finger, the 
 sand firmly around the cuttings. 
 
 The firmer and more solid the sand is made, the 
 
 31 
 
32 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 earlier the wound will heal, and cause the cutting to cal- 
 lus ; from this callus the roots proceed. Water the sand 
 thoroughly, after it is put on the bench and pressed firm- 
 
 ly. 
 
 Figure 8 shows a box, fourteen inches square, with 
 two hundred cuttings, one eye long. Put the stem down 
 in the sand about ij inches, press the cutting firmly with 
 your finger. Water again. Do not be afraid of watering 
 too freely. 
 
 When the cuttings have just been stuck in the sand, 
 they will absorb a good quantity of water without any in- 
 jury to the cutting. More hard wood cuttings die for the 
 want of water than from any other cause. CameUia cut- 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 Box 14 by 14 inches. Two Hundred Cuttings. One Eye. 
 
 tings will not thrive if the sand is allowed to become dry. 
 If watering is neglected two or three times, the leaves 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 33 
 
 will fall off, the bark shrivel, and you may as well, at 
 once, throw them on the rubbish heap, clearing the bench 
 of this worthless material caused by positive neglect. 
 After this failure, should you want to keep up a succes- 
 sion of plants, your only resource will be to use young 
 wood cuttings, taken off in June and July. 
 
 2* 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TIME TO PUT CUTTINGS IN THE SAND-BED. QUANTITY 
 
 OF HEAT REQUIRED. THE AMOUNT OF KNOWL- 
 EDGE REQUISITE TO GROW THEM. CLEANLINESS 
 
 OF BED, &C. 
 
 Place the cuttings in the sand during the month of 
 November, about one inch apart. For the first six weeks, 
 keep both house and cutting bed cool, at forty-five de- 
 grees ; during the time that the cuttings are kept at this 
 low temperature, it is not probable that they will require 
 watering oftener than twice a week. I cannot give any 
 stated rule for watering ; watch the sand-bed, and do not 
 allow it to become in the least dry. 
 
 During the six weeks that the house is kept at this low 
 temperature, the cuttings will need to be syringed three 
 times a week. At the end of the sixth week, give them 
 gentle bottom heat, with but little top heat, or, using plain 
 terms, feet warm and head cool. Keep the cuttings at 
 the temperature of fifty-five degrees until March. Dur- 
 ing this time they will need more water than when the 
 temperature was low. After the month of March, grad- 
 ually take all artificial heat from them. 
 
 In watering, have the sand-bed wet thoroughly to the 
 bottom. A few pieces of broken pots, oyster shells, &c., 
 would be advisable to use, as drainage, in the bottom of 
 the bench or box. 
 
 34 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 35 
 
 Camellia cuttings are not difficult to root, but they do 
 require time in the sand-bed. 
 
 I have much more trouble rooting soft wooded plants. 
 
 Cuttings have life in them, and, of necessity, require 
 attention at the proper time. 
 
 While the cuttings are in the sand-bed, and are receiv- 
 ing artificial heat, they will be more subject to pests than 
 at any other time. 
 
 At this particular time, syringing twice a day, morn- 
 ing and night, will be positively necessary for the cuttings, 
 and will greatly help to destroy the insects. 
 
 To aid in keeping the sand-bed clean, all dead leaves 
 should be removed, as they are often the nests of vermin. 
 
 Cleanliness in the sand-bed or bench, is absolutely 
 necessary for the health of the cuttings. 
 
 Do not force the cuttings to root quickly by giving 
 them extra heat. You will gain nothing by it, but will 
 cause them to lose most of their shoots or eyes. 
 
 They will root, but it will, in all probability, take 
 twelve months for many of them to make another shoot or 
 eye. (See special chapter of rooted cuttings with no eyes 
 or shoots.) 
 
 For propagating, it does not require a man of so much 
 experience and skill as very many growers suppose. 
 
 The best propagator that I ever had in my establish- 
 ment, was a lad only seventeen years old, and who was 
 with me only six months previous to taking charge of this 
 department. 
 
 Having but little experience and knowledge, I can 
 only attribute his success in propagating, to the great care 
 
36 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 and attention paid in watering, shading, airing, syringing, 
 and keeping his house and beds clean and in perfect 
 order, also to the great fondness which he manifested for 
 this particular branch of the business. 
 
 I have had in my employ, at different times, men who 
 called themselves regular propagators, and who had 
 worked at this branch of the business twenty years. 
 They could place double the quantity of cuttings in the 
 sand-bed, in the same time that the lad to whom I re- 
 ferred could, but, in the work of bringing the plants, 
 rooted, from the cutting-bed, he far surpassed those prop- 
 agators of long experience. 
 
 From the above statement, you will readily perceive 
 that propagation does not depend as much on skill and 
 knowledge as it does on the attention and care given to 
 the cuttings. 
 
CAMELLIA JAPONICA. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW LONG TO LEAVE CUTTINGS IN THE SAND. LENGTH 
 
 OF TIME IN ROOTING. 1 DO NOT ALLOW CUTTINGS 
 
 TO MAKE BUT ONE GROWTH. — ENGRAVING OF ALBA 
 
 PLENA EIGHT MONTHS IN SAND-BED. THE SIZE OF 
 
 POT REQUIRED FOR CUTTINGS. TREATMENT AFTER 
 
 BEING TAKEN FROM THE SAND-BED. 
 
 In November, I take all Camellia cuttings and 
 place them in the sand-bed, allowing them to remain 
 until the following June. 
 
 The single and double red varieties should be well 
 rooted by the first of March. Alba plena will take from 
 two to three months longer to make roots. 
 
 I allow all varieties to remain in the sand-bed until 
 June, when at this time our spring sales are over, and we 
 have ample room in the houses to accommodate all cut- 
 tings when potted. Camellia cuttings will remain a longer 
 time in the sand-bed, without injury to their roots, than 
 any other plant. If permitted to remain in the sand until 
 June, they will have made their growth for the season, 
 and the wood will be ripened, as will be seen by Fig. 9, 
 which is a cutting in June before being removed from the 
 sand-bed to a pot. 
 
 Potting can be done this month with perfect safety to 
 the newly rooted cutting. Keep the glass slightly dark- 
 ened, or just sufficient to exclude the strong rays of the 
 sun. The glass can be washed over with lime or white- 
 
 37 
 
38 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 ning to prevent the rays of the sun from beaming too 
 strongly on the plants. 
 
 All cuttings require light. 
 
 If the cuttings are left in the sand-bed until the time 
 
 before stated, their roots 
 will be of such a size as 
 will require from two to 
 three-inch pots to accom- 
 modate them. 
 
 The smaller the pot, 
 the better the cuttings 
 will thrive. Care should 
 be taken not to break the 
 roots. 
 
 A good position will 
 now be necessary for the 
 potted cuttings, with the 
 glass a little more shaded 
 than when in the sand- 
 bed. 
 
 This kind of treat- 
 ment will only be neces- 
 
 •NT K .^- ° ' ^ J ♦!, T sary for a few weeks. 
 November cutting rooted the June •' 
 
 following. When potted, place them 
 
 on the bench or frame in the greenhouse. Keep them 
 rather close for a few days, to encourage them to adhere 
 to the fresh soil. After this give plenty of air, keeping 
 them cool. 
 
 Do not force them to make another growth the same 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 39 
 
 season. Many of them will, in spite of all that can be 
 done. 
 
 It is of much more importance to encourage them to 
 make roots, which will be of more value to the cuttings 
 than the extra growth. 
 
 See chapter on the kind of soil to use. 
 
 The cuttings in pots, for the present season, will re- 
 quire nothing further than to water them when dry, not 
 forgetting to syringe daily with clean water. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ENGRAVING OF ALBA PLENA WELL ROOTED, BUT WITH- 
 OUT EYES OR SHOOTS. HOW TO CARE FOR THEM, 
 
 AND HAVE THEM FORM NEW EYES. 
 
 Many of the alba plena cuttings, when taken from the 
 sand-bed, have no shoots or eyes. These have fallen out, 
 as will be seen in Fig. lo. This plant is well rooted, but 
 
 it has dropped its 
 shoots, in all prob- 
 ability from being 
 kept too warm. I 
 find that the alba 
 plena comes more 
 frequently from the 
 sand - bed in this 
 way than the red 
 varieties. 
 
 Follow instruc- 
 tions in regard to 
 
 Fig. lo. 
 
 Cutting well rooted, with shoots or eyes 
 
 dropped off or dead. 
 
 heat, and you will obviate this trouble. 
 
 I have not the least doubt that many growers would 
 throw away these cuttings after they are rooted, as being 
 worthless. 
 
 I threw them away until experience taught me better. 
 
 The cutting shown in Fig. lo is of five eyes, twelve 
 
 months old ; every eye and joint is dead, but it is well 
 
 rooted. 
 
 40 
 
,S^-»y> 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 4I 
 
 Pot all of these ; they will make plants and form new- 
 shoots. 
 
 It will pay to keep such cuttings twelve months after 
 being potted. If, at the expiration of twelve months, no 
 shoots are shown, place them where they will get good 
 bottom heat, and they will show shoots or eyes in less 
 than six weeks. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING ALBA PLENA CUTTING WHEN POT- 
 TED IN JtTNE, ALL EYES DEAD; APRIL FOLLOWING 
 MAKING ONE SHOOT. 
 
 Fig. 1 1 shows alba ple?ia cutting which has been eight 
 months in the sand-bed, and ten months in a pot, before 
 
 showing any sign of growth. 
 
 The plant is now eighteen 
 months old, and has made a 
 growth of one inch from the 
 top-eye. 
 
 There are two more eyes 
 Ion this plant, which are 
 dormant. 
 
 The one which has started 
 growing will make rapid pro- 
 gress, and will be sufificient to 
 
 make the plant. 
 Fig. II. ^ 
 
 Alba plena eighteen months old, Give this plant one size 
 
 showing one shoot. j^j.ggj. ^^^ ^^^ f^^gj^ g^^j^ ^j^^ 
 
 following fall take one or two eyes off the top shoot of 
 this plant, being careful not to cut below the growth that 
 has been made the present season. This will cause the 
 plant to break below, and make side shoots. In the fall 
 
 42 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE, 43 
 
 of the fourth year this plant should be in a four-inch pot, 
 with two or three buds. 
 
 This plant has lost one year's growth by having blind 
 eyes. If all the eyes had been perfect when taken from 
 the sand-bed, it would have been salable at three years 
 old. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ENGRAVING OF ALBA PLENA CUTTING OF TWO EYES. 
 
 EIGHT MONTHS IN THE SAND-BED. NEWLY POTTED 
 
 JUNE THE FIRST. 
 
 Figure 12 shows alha plena cutting from two eyes, 
 which was placed in the sand-bed during the month of 
 November. 
 
 The following June, the cutting being 
 rooted, it is placed in a two-inch pot. 
 
 This plant has made its growth for 
 the season in the sand-bed, of one and 
 a half inches, before being placed in a 
 
 pot. 
 Fig. 12. 
 Alba plena cutting ^his IS the best kmd of Cutting to 
 
 from two eyes. use where the wood is scarce, or for 
 those of limited experience in Camellia growing. And, 
 furthermore, I find that the eyes are not so apt to fall 
 from the cutting, from an irregular temperature of the 
 house or from improper treatment, as those of the five- 
 eye kinds. 
 
 This style of cutting will be four years old before it 
 will be salable with buds. 
 
 44 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ENGRAVING OF ALBA PLENA CUTTING FIVE EVES, ONE 
 
 YEAR OLD, IN A POT. HOW TO CARE FOR THEM. 
 
 WHEN TO RE-POT. 
 
 Figure 13 shows alba plena cutting which was taken 
 from the sand-bed, well rooted, and placed in a pot dur- 
 ing the month of June. 
 The engraving also 
 presents the appear- 
 ance of the cutting the 
 following November, 
 which makes it one 
 year old. 
 
 This cutting is 
 made from five eyes or 
 joints. 
 
 All the cuttings, 
 when taken from the 
 sand-bed, will not be 
 in such a good condi- 
 Pig 13. tion as the one repre- 
 
 Cutting of five eyes, plant one year old. sented by this engrav- 
 ing. Three-fourths of them should, if directions for 
 growing them have been strictly followed. The balance 
 of cuttings should be similar in appearance to the one 
 represented in Fig. 9. 
 
 45 
 
4.6 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 You will readily perceive the difference between the 
 two and the five-eye cutting, both in the height of plant 
 and style of growth ; and you will at once discern the 
 advantage to be gained by growing from the five-eye 
 system. 
 
 This cutting of one year old is in what I call a two- 
 inch pot ; the following January it will require re-potting 
 again. 
 
 If the cutting has been properly cared for, it will 
 make a growth in March or April. 
 
 The following fall it may produce one or two buds. 
 
 This plant being only two years old, it would be ad- 
 visable to take all the buds off, and wait until the third 
 year before allowing it to show buds. 
 
 After the plant is three years old, adhere strictly to 
 the practice of re-potting only once a year, and during 
 the months of January and February. 
 
 Previous to this age (three years), you can re-pot once 
 or twice a year, or as often as you find the roots extend- 
 ing to the sides of the pot. 
 
 The growing of Camellia cuttings from one eye or 
 joint, also from two eyes, together with inarching and 
 grafting, has been the way in which I increased my stock 
 until within the past few years. 
 
 I will only recommend this particular system of grow- 
 ing for those who have not a large supply of wood for 
 cuttings. As soon as the wood becomes plentiful by 
 growing from one and two eyes, and from inarching and 
 grafting, follow at once the method which I practice 
 of increasing this plant at the present day, which 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 47 
 
 Fig- 14- 
 Cutting of five eyes. 
 
 is of the five-eye sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Fig. 14 represents 
 a cutting of five eyes, 
 and which I grow ex- 
 clusively, believing it 
 to be the best and most 
 profitable, 
 
 I advise all growers 
 to adopt this particular 
 method of propagation, 
 when the wood is so 
 plentiful that this size 
 cutting can be *;aken 
 from the pa^-^nt plant 
 without injuring it. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING ALBA PLENA TWO YEARS OLD, 
 FROM A CUTTING OF TWO EYES, WITH ONE BUD. 
 
 Figure 15 represents alba plcfia two years old, from a 
 cutting of two eyes. This two-year old plant, which is in 
 
 a three-inch pot, is four inches 
 high, with one bud. This 
 bud will come to maturity 
 and open a good flower, but 
 it will evidently weaken the 
 plant very much. 
 
 I advise all flower buds 
 to be rubbed off of plants so 
 young, and also rub or cut 
 the top eye out, which will 
 cause the plant to break and 
 bush. 
 
 Do all within your knowl- 
 edge to make the plant grow 
 
 Alba plena, two y'ears old. with strong and bushy for the fall 
 one bud. ^f ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^d fourth year, 
 
 when it can be allowed to produce buds and flowers with- 
 out any injury to the plant. 
 
 48 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING ALBA PLENA TWO YEARS OLD, 
 FROM FIVE-EYE CUTTING, WITHOUT FLOWER BUDS. 
 
 Figure i6 represents a plant of alba plena two years 
 old in November. 
 
 This cutting was made from 
 the five-eye system. 
 
 If properly cared for, all the 
 plants should average this size 
 that are made from this system. 
 
 This plant, when it was taken 
 from the sand-bed, had made a 
 growth of one or two inches. This 
 growth was only from one of the 
 top eyes ; the balance of the eyes 
 remain dormant. 
 
 The second year it makes a 
 growth of the two spreading shoots, 
 as will be seen in the engraving. 
 The average height of this plant 
 should be from six to eight inches. 
 
 Alba ple7ia, two years old, _,, r n r ^i • v, i i-i r 
 
 without buds, from a cut- The fall of this year rub both of 
 ting of five eyes. ^j^g prominent tuood buds off, to 
 
 cause the plant to break again, so as to form a low bushy 
 plant for the fall of the third year. 
 
 Plants of this age will be in a four-inch pot, with two 
 or three buds. 
 
 The plant is now of a salable size, all averaging in 
 
 height from ten to fifteen inches. 
 
 3 49 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ENGRAVING OF ALBA PLENA THREE YEARS OLD FROM A 
 
 CUTTING. ALSO ENGRAVING SHOWING THE SAME 
 
 PLANT CUT BACK TO FORM A BUSHY PLANT FOR 
 THE FOURTH SEASON. — DIRECTIONS FOR TREATING 
 THE SAME. 
 
 The third year 
 most of the plants 
 will be of a size to 
 require four-inch pots. 
 
 Figure 1 7 repre- 
 sents this age plant 
 with three buds. 
 
 I would advise re- 
 potting now to be 
 done only during the 
 months of January 
 and February. 
 
 At any other time 
 of the year the re- 
 potting might, in all 
 probability, cause the 
 plant to have no 
 flower buds. 
 
 By re-potting at 
 the time specified, 
 they will make a growth in April or May, after which they 
 
 50 
 
 Fig. 17. 
 
 Alba plena, three years old, 
 
 of five eyes. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE, 51 
 
 will harden their wood and form buds during July and 
 August. 
 
 Perhaps only three-fourths of your stock will produce 
 buds this season ; some of the plants will have from two 
 to four buds. 
 
 Do not encourage young plants to bud before the 
 fourth year. It will be more profitable to allow them to 
 get stronger and more healthy, and to grow low and 
 bushy. 
 
 At this age the plants will want room on the benches. 
 
 Camellias will not stand being crowded as well as 
 many other plants. 
 
 Do not keep them too close together. 
 
 Most of the plants will be from twelve to fifteen 
 inches high, with perhaps only two to three branches, as 
 the engraving shows. 
 
 This plant is strong and shapely for its age, but if 
 allowed to grow without topping, it would become long 
 and straggling. 
 
 Figure i8 represents alba plejta three years old, with 
 from two to three inches of the top taken off. 
 
 These tops are used for cuttings. 
 
 In topping, alway cut back to a good prominent eye of 
 the past season's growth. 
 
 In this way, you will soon get wood enough for cut- 
 tings, and the stock of alba plena will increase. 
 
 The plant for the fourth year will be bushy and well 
 budded. 
 
52 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Topping or cutting young 
 Camellias back is an import- 
 ant matter. 
 
 I have seen among Camel- 
 lia growers sticks used as a 
 means of support to young 
 plants. 
 
 I do not approve of this 
 practice at all. 
 
 If my directions are fol- 
 lowed carefully, they will be 
 strong, and will not need sup- 
 port of any kind. 
 
 Fig. 1 8. 
 
 rig. lo. 
 
 Three-year old alba plena 
 
 with top cut off. 
 
CAMELLIA SARAH FROST. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING DOUBLE RED, THREE YEARS OLD. 
 
 HOW MANY OF THE RED VARIETIES TO GROW IN 
 
 PROPORTION TO THE WHITE. WHEN I RESORT TO 
 
 .GRAFTING. 
 
 Figure 19 represents a well 
 grown three-year old double red 
 plant from a cutting of five eyes. 
 
 This plant has from eight to 
 ten buds, and is somewhat strong- 
 er than alba plena of the same 
 age, but in value, when sold in 
 large quantities, and to the trade, 
 is only worth half as much as 
 the white varieties. When sold 
 at retail, both command the same 
 price. 
 
 Although the flowers of many 
 of the red varieties are very 
 beautiful, they are in value only 
 worth half as much as the white 
 kind. 
 
 In propagating, I always grow 
 nine hundred white to one hun- 
 dred red. 
 Fig. 19. 
 -r^ , , , ,, ,. Alba plena, with or without 
 
 Double red, three years old, -^ 
 
 from a cutting of five eyes, buds, are always in demand. 
 
 53 
 
54 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 The red varieties sell very slowly and in very limited 
 quantities. 
 
 Grow the white varieties for profit. 
 
 The only time that I now resort to grafting is when 
 my stock of double reds accumulate, and having no sale 
 for them, I work alba plena on them, instead of using the 
 single red stock. 
 
 The engraving shown in this chapter is a variety of 
 Camellia named Sarah Frost. From this plant the flower 
 is taken which is shown in the colored plate. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ENGRAVING SHOWING ALBA PLENA FOUR YEARS OLD, 
 FROM CUTTING OF FIVE EYES. — PRESENT PRICE OF 
 THIS SIZE. 
 
 1 ^t2 'V^''-'' •**!W:'^ 
 
 Fig. 20. Alba plena , four years from cutting — five eyes. 
 
 55 
 
56 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 IF the plants of alba plena have been properly grown 
 in the fall of the fourth year they will be in five-inch 
 pots. 
 
 Figure 20 shows a plant from twenty inches to two 
 feet high, with from six to eight buds. 
 
 At present, the wholesale price is seventy-five dollars 
 per hundred ; retail price one dollar to one dollar and 
 fifty cents each. 
 
 Give plenty of room at this time to plants on the 
 benches, so that they may furnish well grown and vigor- 
 ous stems. 
 
 The next re-potting this size plant requires use of 
 drainage. 
 
 Re-pot in January and February and only those 
 plants whose roots have grown to the sides of the pots. 
 
 Others which have not grown so well, reduce ball of 
 earth, give fresh soil, and place back in the same size pot. 
 
 Syringe as directed in previous chapters. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ALBA PLENA PLANTED OUT IN GREENHOUSE. ENGRAV- 
 ING OF MY DOUBLE-PITCH CAMELLIA HOUSE, ONE 
 HUNDRED FEET LONG BY THIRTY-TWO FEET WIDE. 
 
 ENGRAVING OF MY LEAN-TO HOUSE, SEVENTY-FIVE 
 
 FEET LONG BY SIXTEEN FEET WIDE. THE WAY TO 
 
 GROW CAMELLIA FLOWERS FOR PROFIT. 
 
 If you want alba plena for flowers or for the wood, 
 plant them in beds in a house exclusively by themselves. 
 
 Figure 21 represents my camellia house with span roof, 
 one hundred feet long by thirty-two feet wide. 
 
 The center bed is planted with alba plena, varying in 
 age from twenty to forty years old. 
 
 The side benches are used for the same plants in pots. 
 
 If you want good, healthy-looking plants, adopt the 
 system of planting them in beds in greenhouse. 
 
 The foliage will have a different appearance ; the 
 plants will have double the quantity of flowers, and will 
 also make twice the growth in one season of those planted 
 in pots or tubs. 
 
 Plants grown in this way will need very little attention, 
 and from these you will have plenty of wood for cuttings. 
 
 Camellias need a cool and moist houses, not allowing 
 the thermometer to get above from fifty to fifty-five de- 
 grees F. in winter. 
 
 In summer give to the plants all the air that is pos- 
 sible. 
 
 3* 57 
 
58 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 
 Pi 
 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 59 
 
 Have the house so arranged that it can be aired from 
 the sides as well as from the top. 
 
 I find that airing in this way adds considerably to the 
 number of buds on the plants. 
 
 During the summer have the glass partly shaded, and 
 in very warm weather water the pathways in mid-day, to 
 create a moisture which will help keep the house cool. 
 
 Figure 22 represents my lean-to house, seventy-five 
 feet long by sixteen feet wide. 
 
 The bed for planting out being only nine feet wide, 
 the bench three feet wide for plants in pots. 
 
 Plants in this house grow rather one-sided, and are 
 not at all shapely ; those which are grovvn in my span 
 roof or double-pitch house are well shaped, being uni- 
 form on all sides. 
 
 I would not advise Camellias to be grown in a lean-to 
 house. 
 
6o 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Fig. 22. My Lean-to House, seventy-five feet long, by sixteen feet wide. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PLANTS IN POTS AND TUBS. WHEN THEY REQUIRE RE- 
 POTTING, TOP DRESSING, ETC. 
 
 I FIND that alba ple7ia, in pots or tubs, after they are 
 fifteen or twenty years old, are more difficult to manage 
 than those planted in the ground. 
 
 Fig. 23 is a representation of a plant in a tub, thirty 
 years old, in a fine flourishing condition, with over four 
 hundred buds. 
 
 Plants of this size will not need re-potting every 
 season. 
 
 Many of them will stand from three to five years, and 
 even longer, in the same size pot or tub. 
 
 Judgment must be used in regard to those plants that 
 require removing. 
 
 Those that do need removing will have an unhealthy 
 appearance, the foliage will be of a yellowish hue, and they 
 will have made but little growth the previous year. The 
 flower buds will not come to maturity. Such a plant 
 should be taken from the pot or tub, all the loose and sour 
 ground taken from the ball one inch all around, or until 
 good sound roots are seen, then place back into the same 
 size or a smaller pot. Encourage it to make roots, and 
 the top will soon begin to grow. 
 
 All Camellias over eight or ten years old, would be 
 very much improved by drainage. 
 
 61 
 
63 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 
 
 Fig. 23. Alui pLna \'\X.].h. Thirty years old. 
 
 Any hard material, such as broken pots or oyster 
 shells, that will allow the Avater to run off, will do. 
 
 I would recommend putting a little moss over the 
 drainage to prevent the soil from mixing with it. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 63 
 
 When the plants want re-potting, give them but one 
 size larger pot, they will do much better than if they have 
 too much room. 
 
 A very good plan, and one which I consider quite 
 necessary, is to go through the houses or stock three times 
 a year and remove about half an inch of the ground from 
 the top of the soil, which is generally part moss, caused by 
 the dampness of the house. Renew the same with fresh 
 soil. 
 
 Plants often get so covered with this moss that it is 
 almost impossible to tell when they require water. 
 
 This is what is termed by growers top-dressing the 
 plant. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 HOW TO WATER PLANTS. THE QUANTITY OF WATER 
 
 REQUIRED. THREE IMPORTANT MATTERS IN GROW- 
 ING CAMELLIAS. HOW TO HAVE FINE FLOWERS. 
 
 From the first of November to the first of March, my 
 houses are examined every day, and my large plants in the 
 ground are watered about once in two weeks. 
 
 Those in pots and tubs, once in three days. 
 
 The soil of all plants will tell when they require water. 
 
 During the months of March, April and May, the 
 plants will be growing, and will need much more water 
 than at any other time of the year. 
 
 The plants must be watered thoroughly. 
 
 The top may have a damp appearance and yet the 
 roots be dry. 
 
 I have frequently seen plants twenty years old receive 
 about one quart of \/ater, or enough to wet the surface. 
 
 This manner of watering is very injurious, and if re- 
 peated often it will, in a short time, prove fatal to the 
 plant. 
 
 A plant of this size will not require water every day, 
 but when it does, give it from six to eight gallons at one 
 watering. 
 
 Those planted in the ground will require twice this 
 quantity of water if really dry, and it will do the plants no 
 harm ; a great quantity of water is here lost in the beds. 
 
 Camellias are not at all difiicult to manage, although 
 they are not always to be seen in a satisfactory condition. 
 
 64 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 65 
 
 The reasons why cultivators are not successful are: 
 
 First. They keep them too warm, and do not pay 
 enough attention to airing the plants. 
 
 Secondly. There is very seldom sufficient water put on 
 them to wet the roots. 
 
 Thirdly. A very important matter is syringing or damp- 
 ening the foliage, which is very often neglected. 
 
 I do not find that syringing the plants when they are 
 in flower spoils the bloom; in fact I find it quite the 
 reverse. 
 
 When the plants are in perfection, which is generally 
 in December and January, the weather is the coldest, and 
 the fires are rather stronger than in November. 
 
 The foliage will not, during this time, have that bright 
 glossy look it had a few months previous. And the flow- 
 ers, when cut, will be of a flimsy texture if the syringe is 
 not used constantly. 
 
 Generally about the holidays, when Camellias are in 
 great demand for the trade, as well as for our retail busi- 
 ness, and we wish a good bloom and firm flowers for the 
 next day, we syringe thoroughly the night before, not be- 
 ing afraid of bud, flower or foliage. 
 
 The water loosens the bud and causes it to expand to 
 a fine fresh flower, and in greater abundance than if 
 syringing should be neglected. 
 
 They will carry, packed in cotton, for three days, 
 while others that have not been syringed, will not carry 
 half the distance, nor will they be as satisfactory to the 
 purchaser. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TIME TO RE-POT LARGE CAMELLIAS. 
 
 The best time to re-pot large Camellia plants is during 
 the months of January and February. At this time the 
 plants will be nearly through flowering, and many of them 
 will be preparing to make their new growth of wood, 
 which is to form the buds for the coming fall and winter's 
 flowers. 
 
 Many growers give as a reason for objecting to re-pot- 
 ting at this time, that, by handling the plant, many of the 
 flowers remaining on the plant will be spoiled. 
 
 I consider that fresh soil is needed just before the 
 plants begin to grow. 
 
 The young growth needs nourishment. 
 
 I advise all re-potting to be done during the months 
 named. The flowers at this time are but of little import- 
 ance compared with the advantage the young growth will 
 gain by having fresh soil. 
 
 Many more plants will require fresh drainage than will 
 need larger pots or tubs. 
 
 Do not disturb good healthy-looking plants until you 
 are sure that the roots have extended to the sides of the 
 tub or pot. 
 
 It may be difficult, in only using one size larger pot, to 
 get the soil well around the ball and leave no air holes. 
 
 66 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 67 
 
 Use a stick which is square at the end for working the 
 soil down around the roots of the plant. 
 
 After re-potting, water thoroughly. 
 
 The fresh soil at this time will absorb a great quantity 
 of water without injury to the plants. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE REMEDY FOR ALBA PLENA FLOWERS WHEN THEY 
 OPEN OF A YELLOWISH COLOR. — PUTTING PLANTS 
 OUTSIDE IN SUMMER. — THE KIND OF A DAY THAT 
 CAMELLIAS SHOULD BE PUT OUT IN THE OPEN AIR. 
 
 I FREQUENTLY find my white varieties when about to 
 open their flowers have rather a yellowish tinge. This 
 has been caused by the dampness of the house. 
 
 I obviate this trouble by giving the plants a little fire 
 about the middle of October, and then only during the 
 day, allowing the fire to go out about dusk. 
 
 Have plenty of air circulating through the house while 
 you have the fire going. 
 
 The fire is merely to dry off the extra moisture, and 
 will only be necessary for two or three days. 
 
 Do not allow the thermometer to get below forty 
 degrees in the house during the month of October. 
 
 By giving a little heat during this month, the buds will 
 be prevented from showering off the plants, which they 
 are apt to do. 
 
 They will stand more cold after the first of December 
 without injury to the buds, than they will in the early fall. 
 
 The question is often asked me: Shall I put my 
 Camellias outside in summer ? 
 
 If the house has been kept at the temperature recom- 
 mended for Camellias alone, put the red kinds out, the 
 
 white varieties keep in the house. 
 
 68 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 69 
 
 If a variety of plants have been grown in the same 
 house, adopt the plan for amateur culture. 
 
 My plan is to put out all the large red varieties, about 
 the middle of May, putting the pots in the ground up to 
 the rim, to prevent the sun from acting on the roots. 
 
 When these plants are taken from the house, let it be 
 done on a dark, rainy day. This is a matter of great im- 
 portance, and you will find they will stand the strong rays 
 of the sun without their foliage burning. 
 
 I prefer keeping the white varieties in the greenhouse 
 all the season. Moving all the large red varieties outside, 
 gives me more space for the white kinds, which have been 
 crowded during the winter. 
 
 They will be greatly improved before fall, by having 
 this extra space and light. 
 
 All large plants are improved by being turned once or 
 twice in a year, to keep them in shape. 
 
 This turning the plants can be done in the spring after 
 the red varieties are put outside, and again in the fall 
 when returning them to the house for the winter. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 WILL CAMELLIAS STAND FORCING ? PROPER TIME FOR 
 
 THEM TO FLOWER. PROPER TREATMENT. THE 
 
 NUMBER OF FLOWERS I CUT FROM THE FIFTEENTH 
 
 OF DECEMBER TO THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY. 
 
 TREATMENT WHILE GROWING, PRUNING, ETC. 
 
 Will Camellias stand forcing ? They will, for a few 
 years only; at the end of that time the foliage will have a 
 yellowish appearance, and the plants will only make about 
 half the growth they should. 
 
 In the course of five years, or even less time, they will 
 only be fit for the rubbish heap. 
 
 I have often forced large plants for their early bloom. 
 This is done by giving them extra heat in early spring. 
 
 By forcing them to make an early growth you will get 
 the wood hardened by the middle of April, they will then 
 form buds by the last of May, and will begin to bloom the 
 first part of September. 
 
 These plants will come into bloom about the same 
 time every year. The flowers will not be as good as those 
 on the plants which have received the proper treatment. 
 
 Without this forcing, the plants should come into 
 flower about the tenth of November, and bloom well until 
 March. 
 
 There is nothing gained by giving Camellias extra 
 heat. 
 
 The forced flowers will be easily detected. They 
 
 70 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. ^\ 
 
 have a greenish center, with only half the number of 
 petals that they should have. 
 
 My plants generally begin blooming about the first of 
 November, and from the fifteenth of December until the 
 middle of January, they are at their height and in 
 perfection. 
 
 At this time I cut from three to six hundred daily. I 
 usually have two thousand for Christmas and two thous- 
 and for New Year's. Many of these are sent west, to 
 those in the trade, at prices according to the quantity 
 blooming at this time. (See Chapter XXXV.) Most of 
 my alba plcnce are done flowering by the middle of Feb- 
 ruary or the first of March. At this time they begin 
 growing; many of them still have buds, but very few open 
 well after this. 
 
 The plant is now in a growing state, and casts the re- 
 maining buds. 
 
 Give the plants a little more heat and plenty of water 
 while growing, but as soon as their growth is made, give 
 them the usual quantity of air. 
 
 Do not allow them to make the second growth. 
 
 Use the knife freely in pruning; cut away all the dead 
 branches, and those that are not in a healthy condition. 
 Also top the long straggling shoots. 
 
 This pruning should be done before the plants begin 
 to form new wood, in order to get the plants in a shapely 
 form. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ON CAMELLIA CANDIDISSIMA. — ENGRAVING SHOWING THE 
 FLOWERING VARIETY. 
 
 Of this famous variety of 
 Camellia, named candidissima, 
 there are two distinct kinds. 
 They are similar in foliage, but 
 in habit of growth they are de- 
 cidedly different. 
 
 This variety generally begins 
 flowering about the middle of 
 February, and takes the place 
 of alba plena, which is nearly 
 through blooming by this time. 
 
 This kind will continue to 
 bloom until May or June. 
 
 It is decidedly the best late 
 double white that is grown, and 
 should be in every collection 
 where late flowers are needed. 
 
 Fig. 24 represents the flower- 
 ing variety. 
 
 It has strong erect shoots 
 and is covered with flower buds. 
 
 When purchasing be sure to 
 
 get the flowering kind. 
 
 72 
 
 Fig. 24. Candidissima. 
 flowering variety. 
 
 The 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE, 73 
 
 This plant is four years old and grown from a cutting 
 of five eyes. 
 
 It will require the same treatment in propagation as 
 the alba plena, but it is of a quicker growth and will root 
 more freely. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ON THE WORTHLESS KIND OF CANDIDISSIMA. THE VA- 
 RIETY THAT NEVER BLOOMS. 
 
 Fig. 25 represents the 
 variety of candidissima 
 that never flowers. 
 
 This plant resembles 
 the one represented in Fig. 
 24 only in foliage, but not 
 in its habit of growth. 
 
 This plant, that never 
 '5^ blooms, has a great many 
 short joints and shoots, 
 and is very weak and not 
 at all like the flowering 
 variety, which is very 
 strong and erect. 
 
 I have grown this kind 
 myself for twenty years, 
 and they have never pro- 
 duced bud or flower. 
 
 They are well known 
 among Camellia growers. 
 
 I think this plant was 
 first propagated near Phil- 
 adelphia, but it is now 
 pretty well scattered over 
 74 
 
 Fig. 25. Candidissima. The 
 worthless variety. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 75 
 
 the whole country. I do not consider it worth the room 
 which it occupies on the benches, being only fit for a 
 stock on which to work the double varieties. 
 
 This, like the blooming kind, will root very freely. It 
 is always offered at a very low figure, and the purchaser is 
 of the belief that he is buying a profitable flowering 
 variety. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 DESIGN OF HOUSE FOR AMATEURS ; THE COST OF ERECT- 
 ING IT. HOW TO GROW CAMELLIAS WITH OTHER 
 
 PLANTS. HOW TO TREAT THEM DURING THE SUM- 
 MER MONTHS. 
 
 For amateurs who have a house devoted exclusively 
 to the cultivation of Camellias, former chapters will give 
 all necessary information. 
 
 Fig. 26 represents a house sixty feet long by twenty 
 feet wide and ten feet high. 
 
 Fig. 26. " Camellia" House, for amateurs and others. 
 
 The cost of erecting such a house at present prices 
 (1879) would be about seven hundred dollars, built of the 
 best material and in the most substantial manner, with 
 brick foundation, and heated with boiler and hot water 
 pipes. 
 
 This house is particularly suitable for the growth of 
 
 the Camellia, on account of having both top and side 
 
 ventilation. 
 
 76 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 77 
 
 Should the collection of Camellias be small, other 
 plants can be grown in the same house, if the Camellias 
 are kept together in the coolest part. 
 
 I have seldom seen Camellias in a good condition 
 when grown with other plants. 
 
 Their general appearance usually indicates that they 
 had not had the proper treatment, the foliage is scanty 
 and has a sickly yellowish look, instead of that fine lux- 
 uriant and glossy appearance, which the plants should 
 have, if the proper treatment had been given them. 
 
 The buds are few, and have a dry and parched look. 
 
 I attribute this failure to too much heat. 
 
 My opinion is, that this could be remedied, to a great 
 extent, by carefully syringing the foliage and dampening 
 the pathways, in that portion of the house occupied by the 
 Camellias. 
 
 This syringing should be attended to morning and 
 evening, as long as the plants are receiving artificial heat. 
 
 Syringing once a day will be all that is necessary when 
 there is no heat. 
 
 As a general thing they bloom much earlier, when in a 
 house with other plants, on account of the temperature 
 being higher than is needed for them. 
 
 Many of the buds will fall off. 
 
 I would advise leaving only one bud on each terminal 
 shoot; rub all others off in September, or when they grow 
 to the size of a pea. Those buds that are left on the 
 plant will usually mature good flowers. 
 
 Very often there are three or four buds joined in one 
 
78 CAMELLIA CULTURE, 
 
 cluster, and they would all bloom if they had a house by 
 themselves; but when in a house with other plants, the 
 heat which is required to keep these plants in health, 
 causes the buds from the Camellias to fall off. 
 
 I do not recommend setting white Camellias out in 
 summer, except when they have been grown in a house with 
 other plants, and at a higher temperature than they really 
 require. All such plants, if put out during the summer 
 months, will be very much benefited by the change. 
 
 Put them out as early as practicable, or as soon as the 
 wood is hardened, and there is no danger of frost. 
 
 Plunge them in the ground up to the rim of the pot, 
 on a wet day. 
 
 Keep them in a cool, shady situation, but not under 
 trees. 
 
 They had better have the strong rays of the sun, than 
 to be under a drip. 
 
 There is no danger of the sun burning the foliage, if the 
 precautions are taken, which have been already given. The 
 foliage will become hardened before the sun strikes them. 
 
 If put out while the sun is shining, the leaves will 
 burn, and most of them fall off, and the plant will not be 
 fit for the greenhouse, the coming fall. 
 
 Do not allow the plants to remain outside later than 
 September. See that they are free from insects. Also 
 give a top dressing of fresh soil to each plant before re- 
 turning them to the greenhouse. 
 
 Camellias which have been grown with a variety of 
 plants, will require the knife to be used very freely just 
 before they begin to make their growth. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 79 
 
 Many branches will be found with dormant or dead 
 eyes, which have been caused by too much heat. All 
 such eyes should be cut away; they are only robbing the 
 good shoots of the nourishment they need. 
 
 The prominent eyes will give sufficient bloom. For 
 potting, shading, etc., see former chapters and calendar 
 for the months. 
 
 Let me sum up, then, briefly, the errors to be avoided 
 by amateurs in Camellia culture: 
 
 I St. Do not attempt to mix your Camellias with other 
 plants in your greenhouse or conservatory. If you can- 
 not have a separate house for them, put them by them- 
 selves in the coolest place in your greenhouse. 
 
 2d. Do not let them have too much heat. As much 
 as other plants need will be fatal to them, except in Feb- 
 ruary, March and April, when they are making new wood. 
 The temperature should not be higher than from forty to 
 fifty degrees. During those months it may gradually be 
 brought up to sixty-eight or seventy degrees, and as 
 gradually reduced to the old temperature. 
 
 3d. Don't let them bud or blossom too soon, nor too 
 much. If a two year old alba plena ventures to put out 
 one or two flower buds, pick them off without hesitation. 
 If a three year old plant puts out many buds, it is better 
 to sacrifice all, or nearly all of them, in order to have 
 strong, healthy plants. 
 
 4th. Don't force them to produce a second grov/th in 
 June or July. The result of this second growth would be 
 no buds or flowers for the coming winter, and your plants 
 will eventually become sickly and die. 
 
8o CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 5th. Do not omit the daily syringing and the thorough 
 watering when your plants are dry. You wash your face 
 every day, but you do not ordinarily take a full bath 
 oftener than once a week. Treat your Camellias as you 
 treat yourself, and they will be the better for it. 
 
 6th. Keep your alba plena Camellias in the house dur- 
 ing the summer, if they can be properly cared for there, 
 unless they have been crowded through the winter and 
 spring months, then they will be the better for having 
 more room. 
 
 7th. If you do put them out, let it be done on a rainy 
 day; prune them carefully first; plunge them up to the rim 
 of the pot; do not put them too near together; put them 
 out after the last frost in the spring, and take them up 
 before there is a possibility of frost in the fall. 
 
 8th. Be careful to keep all insect pests from them, red 
 spider, scale, mealy bug, etc., etc., following the directions 
 given elsewhere in this book. 
 
 9th. When they are in the greenhouse, air them freely 
 as directed. 
 
 loth. Don't try experiments with them; you will lose 
 too much if you do. Leave that to the men who have 
 thousands of them growing. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ON GRAFTING. — FIVE ENGRAVINGS SHOWING SINGLE 
 
 STOCK. SINGLE STOCK GRAFTED. — THE BEST MODE 
 
 OF GRAFTING. THE FRAME TO RECEIVE THE 
 
 GRAFTS. GRAFTEP PLANT, ONE YEAR OLD. 
 
 GRAFTED PLANT, TWO YEARS OLD. 
 
 For the benefit of those who still 
 practice grafting, I will here endeavor to 
 give the best means by which it can be 
 accomplished. 
 
 Of late years, grafting has been more 
 practiced by growers than inarching. 
 
 It is much less labor, and where two 
 grafts are inserted in the stock, makes de- 
 cidedly a more shapely plant. 
 
 Fig. 27 represents a single stock with 
 openings to receive the grafts of the dou- 
 ble kind. 
 
 The grafts should be of only one eye 
 long, and will be seen on the plant repre- 
 sented in the engraving. 
 
 This graft is pared or sliced on both 
 
 Single stock, with sides, and made to fit the cuts in the 
 openings to re- 
 ceive the grafts. Stock as accurately as possible. 
 
 I place two grafts in the stock, but most growers 
 
 only use one. 
 
 4* 81 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
82 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 By adopting this plan of using two grafts, you are 
 always sure of bringing one out of the frame alive, and 
 should the two live, you will have a much better plant in 
 the same length of time. 
 
 In grafting, first cut the stock one-quarter of the way 
 through, and about a half of an inch down, then insert the 
 graft which has been sliced on both sides, tie with cord 
 or bass matting to keep the graft in position, as repre- 
 sented in Fig. 28. 
 
 After being tied, use a little clay 
 around the grafts to keep the drip and 
 moisture which will form in the frame 
 from entering into the newly-made 
 wound. 
 
 Take a few inches of the wood 
 from the top of the single stock, and it 
 will be of great benefit to the grafts. 
 
 A close frame will be necessary for 
 this operation inside of the greenhouse, 
 to receive the plants after they have 
 been grafted. 
 
 Fig. 29 represents the kind of 
 frame which is used for this purpose. 
 
 Lay the plants on their sides, as 
 shown in the engraving. 
 Fig. 28. Grafting can be done very success- 
 
 Grafts inserted and fully during July and August, 
 tied to the stock. 
 
 Have the frame placed m the cool- 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 83 
 
 est part of the house, with the temperature kept as low 
 as possible. 
 
 In two months the graft will be firmly united to the 
 stock, and can be removed from the frame to the bench 
 in the greenhouse. 
 
 Fig. 29. Frame to receive the grafted plants. 
 
 Grafting can be done in January, but not with so 
 much success attending it as during July and August. 
 
 I would advise that it be done during the summer 
 months. 
 
 If grafting is done in January, keep the grafts in the 
 frame at a temperature of about fifty degrees, then gradu- 
 ally increase the heat to sixty or seventy degrees. 
 
84 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Keep the temperature about the same for three weeks. 
 At the end of this time you will find them firmly united, 
 and many of them beginning to grow. 
 
 When you find them starting their young growth, 
 gradually get them back to lower temperature. 
 January grafts take about six weeks to unite. 
 August grafts two months. 
 
 When the grafts have united, the cords with which 
 they have been tied will need loosening, ps the stock at 
 this time will be swelling. 
 
 Remove the cord and tie again more loosely. 
 This is done only to keep the graft from being broken 
 by careless handling, etc. 
 
 Do not encourage January grafts 
 to make but the one growth, and they 
 will have made this before taking them 
 out of the frame. 
 
 The stocks, two or three weeks 
 after being grafted, will have a tend- 
 ency to grow, and show shoots below 
 the graft; these should be taken off. 
 
 Do not allow any portion to grow 
 but the newly-inserted graft. 
 
 One man will be able to graft three 
 hundred, putting two grafts in each 
 stock, tie and clay the same in one 
 day. 
 
 For those who have had experience 
 
 Fig. 30. in growing Camellias, I would advise 
 
 Alba plena, one year „^„(^-„ 
 from rrafts. g^^ftrng. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 85 
 
 For others, they had better adopt the slower process 
 of inarching. 
 
 Fig. 30 represents alba plena one year old from graft; 
 both grafts are growing. 
 
 This is what is called a four-year old grafted plant; 
 the stock being three years old before it was grafted. 
 
 Growing alba plena from cuttings at four years old, 
 will be much larger and with flower buds, none of the 
 extra labor required, as for grafting. 
 
 If growing for profit, adopt the plan of growing from 
 cuttings. 
 
 In four years the plants will be salable with buds. 
 
 This grafted plant will re- 
 quire to be two years old from 
 graft, or five years old from 
 cuttings, before it is salable, 
 with buds, and it will not be 
 the size of the four-year-old 
 alba plena from a cutting. 
 
 Fig. 31 represents a plant 
 two years old from the graft, 
 or five years from cutting, 
 with buds on. 
 
 In grafting, many of the 
 eyes will fall out from the 
 graft. 
 
 Give all such plants a lit- 
 tle extra heat the following 
 pj^ March, and they will pro- 
 
 Al'ua plena, two years from grafts, duce new shoots or eyes. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ON GRAFTING FOR AMATEURS, OR FOR THOSE WHO 
 HAVE A SMALL COLLECTION OF CAMELLIAS. EN- 
 GRAVING SHOWING HOW SINGLE PLANTS CAN BE 
 GRAFTED SUCCESSFULLY, WITH COMPARATIVELY 
 
 LITTLE LABOR. ALSO ENGRAVING OF MY PROCESS 
 
 OF INARCHING. 
 
 Former chapters of this book tell how grafting ought 
 to be done, and the kind of wood to be used; also the 
 time it takes to perform this work. 
 
 I have often seen in amateur collections many single 
 and semi-double varieties, which are of very little value 
 for their flowers. 
 
 These can be made of some value by grafting them 
 with some good double kind. 
 
 One great advantage which is to be gained in grafting 
 old plants is, that in two years, the plant will be as large 
 as it was before it was cut down for grafting. 
 
 The growth the first season will probably be from six 
 to twelve inches. 
 
 The second season it will bud and bloom with perhaps 
 one dozen flowers. 
 
 Fig. 32 represents a semi-double plant, cut back and 
 grafted. 
 
 Hyacinth glasses are used here to cover and protect 
 the grafts. 
 
 86 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 87 
 
 Use a little moss to fill in the opening of the glasses to 
 keep them partly air-tight. 
 
 This grafting can be done in any portion of the green- 
 house, conservatory or pit. 
 
 When hyacinth glasses are 
 used, no frame is required. 
 
 Shade the glass with paper 
 in the middle of the day for 
 two weeks, then this extra 
 shading can be dispensed with. 
 At the expiration of three 
 weeks, pull a portion of the 
 moss from the mouth of the 
 glass, in order to give the 
 graft a little more air, as it 
 should be uniting by this 
 time. 
 
 At the end of the fifth 
 week remove all the moss 
 from the glass, still allowing 
 the glass to remain over the 
 graft for one or two weeks 
 longer. 
 
 At the end of the seventh 
 or eighth week, take the glass 
 off altogether. 
 The graft at this time should be firmly united to the 
 stock. 
 
 Shade the plant well for a few days after removing the 
 glass. 
 
 Grafting for amateurs. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Fig. 33- 
 
 Grafting with bell 
 
 glass. 
 
 For small plants, adopt the plan 
 which is represented in Fig. ;^;^ of a 
 bell glass, in which six plants can be 
 grafted at one time. 
 
 Be sure at all times to give a little 
 air at the bottom of the glass; this 
 will not only give them air, but will 
 tend to dry up the heavy moisture, 
 which is so destructive in grafting. 
 
 Do not hurry them to unite, and 
 you will preserve the young shoots of 
 graft, which are so often lost by giv- 
 ing extra heat. 
 
 Another mode for working the 
 Camellia is very similar to inarching, 
 and which will be seen represented in 
 Fig. CO. 
 
 This engraving shows how the 
 operation is to be performed. 
 
 Take a branch of some good vari- 
 ety which you wish to work on the 
 single and semi-double kind, and 
 place it in a bottle of water. 
 
 Slice a little piece of wood from 
 the branch which is in the water, and 
 also the same sized piece from the stock, then tie the 
 branch and stock together, as represented in the engrav- 
 ing; by this process they will readily unite in four weeks. 
 This work can be done at any season of the year, ex- 
 cept when the plants are in a growing state. 
 
 Fig. oo. 
 
 laarching for ama- 
 teurs. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 89 
 
 The water in the bottle will supply nourishment to the 
 branch which is without roots. 
 
 Although this is by no means a modern way of working 
 this plant, it will be found to be a very interesting process 
 to amateurs and others who have but few plants. 
 
 For information which is wanted on this subject, and 
 which is not contained in this chapter, see chapters 
 XXVIII and XXX. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ON INARCHING. FIVE ENGRAVINGS SHOWING HOW IN- 
 ARCHING SHOULD BE DONE. ENGRAVING OF A SIX- 
 YEAR-OLD INARCHED PLANT. ENGRAVING OF A 
 
 FOUR-YEAR OLD ALBA PLENA GROWN FROM A 
 CUTTING. 
 
 Inarching is grafting by 
 uniting a scion to a stock with- 
 out separating it from its parent 
 plant. 
 
 I would advise this mode of 
 working the Camellia for those 
 who have but few plants, or 
 those with limited experience. 
 
 Fig. 34 represents the single 
 stock with a small piece of the 
 wood and bark sliced off at the 
 side. 
 
 This is where the union of 
 both plants is to be made. 
 
 If you want low bushy 
 plants, place the inarch on the 
 stock as low down as possible, 
 as will be seen in the engraving. 
 
 July and August are the best 
 
 months for inarching, as the 
 
 wood of both plants is generally 
 Fig. 34. Single stock in con- _ • 
 
 dition for inarching, ripened, and will unite quickly. 
 
 90 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 91 
 
 Inarching can be done also in February, or just before 
 the plant begins to grow, with the same success as in July 
 or August. 
 
 Fig. 35 represents a plant of alba plena which is to be 
 inarched on the stock. 
 
 The engraving shows a slice of one inch long taken off 
 the double kind just three eyes from the top. 
 
 The inarch should 
 never be of more than 
 two to three eyes or 
 joints long. 
 
 Make both cuts 
 alike, so as to fit as 
 accurately as possi- 
 ble; join together and 
 tie with cord or bass 
 bark, as represented 
 in Fig. 2,(>- 
 
 Inarching can be 
 done in any part of 
 the house, as there is 
 no close frame re- 
 quired. 
 
 In watering these 
 newly inarched plants 
 do not allow any of 
 the water to come 
 
 ■c- ^, in contact with the 
 
 Fig- 35. 
 
 Alba plena to be inarched on the stock, union of the two 
 
92 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 plants for three or four days. After this time syringe 
 twice a day. 
 
 If done according to the directions given here, in four 
 weeks the plants will be united. 
 
 By examining them at the stated time, after they have 
 been inarched, you will find the barks joined firmly 
 together. 
 
 All such should be cut half way through, and at the 
 same time cut half of the top from the single stock. 
 This will cause the inarch to half support itself. 
 About the sixth week you can cut the inarch off en- 
 tirely, as Fig. 37 represents, allowing one or two inches of 
 the single stock to remain above the inarch. 
 
 This is merely done for a 
 protection to the inarch, and 
 can be removed at any time 
 after two months. 
 
 The bands or cords should 
 be removed as soon as the 
 inarch is cut loose from the 
 parent plant. 
 
 Tie again more loosely. 
 This second tying is very 
 important, as some of the 
 plants may not be as firmly 
 united as they appear to be, 
 and this will hold all such in 
 their place. 
 
 If the plants have been 
 
 T,, , . ^^* ^ ", , properly cared for that were 
 
 rlants in an marched state. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 93 
 
 inarched in August, they will 
 need re-potting the following 
 January, and will have the ap- 
 pearance of Fig. ;^8. 
 
 This plant will make a 
 young growth, in February or 
 March, of from two to four 
 inches, and, by August, the top 
 of this inarched plant can be 
 used to work the single stock 
 again, or it can be taken off 
 •t^ the following fall for a cutting. 
 
 This will cause the plant to 
 grow bushy, and the next fall 
 Fig. 37- The inarch growing, the plant will be well budded. 
 
 This is the second year after 
 being inarched, or the fifth year 
 from the cutting ; but bear in 
 mind that the stock was three 
 years old when inarched. 
 
 Continue this practice and 
 the stock of this plant will in- 
 crease, but not as fast as if 
 grown from cuttings. 
 
 For inarching have good, 
 healthy stocks to work, and not 
 Txt0^ less than three-year-old plants. 
 
 To make a success of this 
 
 work much depends on the 
 
 health and strength of the 
 Fig. 38. Inarched plant, six 
 
 months old. Stocks. 
 
94 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 If the directions are followed strictly for inarching, 
 the loss should not be more than one in one hundred. 
 
 The best stock to use is the single red, although any- 
 good strong-growing double red will answer. 
 
 There is a variety of Camellia named Mary Edmond- 
 son, a small double white flower of very rapid growth, 
 which roots very freely. 
 
 Plants of this variety are as large at two years old as 
 any of the others are at three. 
 
 Fig- 39- 
 Inarched plant three years old, or six years from a cutting. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE, 
 
 95 
 
 I consider this variety the best to grow for a stock to 
 inarch or graft on. 
 
 Fig. 39 represents a well-grown inarched plant. This 
 has been inarched three years. The stock is the same 
 age, making the plant from cutting six years old, well 
 budded and of a salable size. 
 
 Fig. 40, 
 
 Alba plena, four years old, grown from a cutting of five eyes. 
 
96 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 At present prices, this plant is worth from seventy-five 
 to one hundred dollars per hundred. 
 
 Fig. 40 represents alba ;plena grown from a cutting of 
 five eyes. 
 
 This plant is four years old, well grown and finely 
 budded. 
 
 Worth, at present prices, seventy-five to one hundred 
 dollars par hundred. 
 
 It is equally as good in every respect as the six-year- 
 old inarched plant. 
 
 It has grown to this size with half the cost of the in- 
 arched plants, and is worth as much at four years old as 
 the inarched plant is at six. 
 
 I would advise all that possibly can to follow growing 
 alba plena from cuttings. 
 
CHAPTER XXXL 
 
 ON CAMELLIA JAPONICA FOR WINDOW GARDENING, ALSO 
 FOR BAY WINDOWS AND SMALL CONSERVATORIES. 
 
 Camellias are plants greatly admired by ladies, and 
 are used extensively for windows and parlors. 
 
 This plant is recommended by many growers for win- 
 dow gardening. 
 
 My opinion is, that perhaps not more than one person 
 in one hundred will succeed in growing this plant. 
 
 Time and money might be more profitably spent on 
 plants that do not require such a cool and moist atmos- 
 phere as the Camellia. 
 
 Dwellings are kept too warm and without any mois- 
 ture ; in such an atmosphere this plant will not thrive. 
 A Camellia brought from a florist in the fall, will perhaps 
 flower what buds are on it ; these will probably be the 
 last flowers you will see on this plant. 
 
 The next season the plant may show flower buds, but 
 the chances of this are very doubtful, and should it bud, 
 the buds generally fall off soon after being brought into 
 the house. 
 
 Many thousand persons have tried to grow them in 
 this way, and many will yet, without any better success. 
 
 If you have a bay window which is inclosed to ex- 
 clude the dry atmosphere of the house from the window, 
 the chances of the plant will be much better. 
 
 5 91 
 
58 
 
 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 You can succeed well with them by growing them in 
 pits or frames, and removing them to your dwelling when 
 they are in flower. 
 
 If you have a porch 
 in the rear of your dwel- 
 ling, which can be easily 
 converted into a con- 
 servatory for the plants, 
 have the sash made to 
 fit it closely between the 
 pillars. This can be re- 
 moved in the summer 
 and the plants put in 
 the yard. 
 
 I would recommend 
 for heating such a con- 
 servatory a base-burning 
 boiler, which is repre- 
 sented in the engraving. 
 This heating appara- 
 tus is complete, and can 
 be put up by any plumb- 
 er. The boiler is made 
 of two double cylinders; 
 the water circulates 
 through both. The inner 
 double cylinder forms 
 the magazine for fuel, 
 while the outer one 
 forms the fire box, and makes an annular smoke-flue be- 
 
 The size of boiler is as follows : 
 
 Size of 
 Grate. 
 
 Height 
 Boiler. 
 
 Diam. at Size of 
 Bottom. Sockets. 
 
 9 inches. 
 
 2 it. lo in. 
 
 2 feet 
 
 2Min. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 99 
 
 tween the cylinders. When not used as a self-feeder, the 
 inner cylinder becomes a flue, and increases the heating 
 surface. The boiler may be used to heat the room it 
 stands in, and, by circulation of water through pipes, will 
 warm other rooms or a greenhouse at a distance. Fire 
 may be kept twelve hours without attention. This boiler 
 is calculated to heat one hundred and twenty feet of four- 
 inch pipe. 
 
 The grate may be shaken or dumped. 
 
 This is designed especially to meet the wants of ama- 
 teur florists for regular conservatories. 
 
 Such a boiler, without pipes, is worth thirty dollars. 
 
 For heating a bay window, use a coal-oil stove, from 
 which there is no gas or smoke ; place a pan of water on 
 the top of the stove to create a moisture. 
 
 The price of such a stove is from six to eight dollars, 
 and can be had at any seedsmen. 
 
 Camellias grown with so much heat and so little mois- 
 ture will need the foliage washed often. 
 
 I recommend the following wash to be used once a 
 month, with a daily syringing of clear water, as fumigat- 
 ing with tobacco, &c., is very objectionable for either bay 
 window or conservatory. 
 
 Receipt for wash to be used by amateur florists for 
 plants infested with insects : Eight gals, of soap suds, one 
 quarter of a pound of flour of sulphur ; stir well together, 
 adding a little soft soap. 
 
 Dip the plants in this solution, and a soapy gloss will 
 cling to the foliage which will not be objectionable to the 
 eye. Insects will not be apt to infest them soon again. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 SOIL FOR CAMELLIAS. 
 
 I USE a good fibrous loam, which is broken up thor- 
 oughly with the spade, and not sieved, which would take 
 all the fiber from the soil. 
 
 Many persons imagine that the success in growing this 
 plant depends altogether upon the kind of soil which is 
 used. 
 
 I find that they are not particular as regards the soil. 
 
 My heap is made up in July or August, or at any time 
 during the spring, summer or fall, whenever I can get 
 good green sod from the hills, fence corners, or from old 
 pasture land that has not been disturbed for years. Keep 
 away from low bottom and clayey soil. 
 
 Cut sods not over two inches thick, place on a pile 
 with grass-side down, and in six weeks this will be ready 
 for use. 
 
 Many growers use peat soil, leaf mould, and many 
 other mixtures. 
 
 The loam alone is what I use, and is all that is neces- 
 sary for the growth of this plant. 
 
 Never use fertilizers of any kind. 
 
 loo 
 
CAMELLIA IMBR[CATA. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 NAMES OF CAMELLIAS THAT I GROW FOR PROFIT. THE 
 
 FOUR BEST WHITE VARIETIES. 
 
 First and foremost, 
 
 Alba Plena, 
 
 the old double white, and one which I grow principally. 
 
 There are many other white varieties, but none that equal 
 
 this in any respect, both plant and flowers always finding 
 
 ready sale. 
 
 Second, 
 
 Fimh-iata. 
 
 The fringed white, in shape and size of flower the same as 
 
 alba plena, but having a fringed edge on each petal of the 
 
 flower. This is a sport from alba plena. I have often 
 
 seen them both on one plant, one portion of the plant 
 
 with fringed white, the other with plain alba plena. 
 
 Third, 
 
 Lady Hume's Blush. 
 
 A good double blush-white ; the flowers are generally 
 
 smaller in size than alba plena. It is a very straggling 
 
 grower. To keep it in good shape, the knife must be 
 
 used freely. 
 
 Fourth, 
 
 Candidissima. 
 
 The late blooming double white, is a very compact grower. 
 
 The plants always have a shapely appearance, and are a 
 
 very free flowering kind. 
 
 See special chapters of this book on the two varieties 
 
 of Candidissima. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 EIGHTEEN OF THE BEST COLORED VARIETIES : SIX DOUBLE 
 RED, SIX DOUBLE ROSE COLOR, SIX DOUBLE STRIPED. 
 
 Our catalogues contain an endless variety of Camel- 
 lias, many of them being so nearly alike that it is difficult 
 to distinguish them apart. 
 
 I. Imbricata. 
 Crimson and white ; a strong grower ; a very free 
 flowering kind, and easily propagated from cuttings. 
 See Colored Plate. 
 
 2. Sarah Frost. 
 Rosy crimson ; a very handsome variety for late 
 blooming. It is free flowering and of easy propagation. 
 See Colored Plate. 
 
 3. Gilesii. 
 Crimson and white, half double. 
 
 4. William Penn. 
 Dark crimson, and of good form. 
 
 5. Lowii. 
 Dark crimson, very large. 
 
 6. Peine des Fleurs. 
 A red, handsome flower. 
 
 SIX ROSE COLORED VARIETIES. 
 
 I. Fordii. 
 Beautiful waxy rose color, fine form. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I03 
 
 2. Caleb Cope, 
 Blush rose color. 
 
 3. Henry La Favre. 
 Dark rose, beautifully formed. 
 
 4. Sacco. 
 Light rose, a very free flowering variety. 
 
 5. Wilde Rii. 
 Bright, rosy pink. 
 
 6. Ellen. 
 Rosy red, marked with white. 
 
 SIX STRIPED VARIETIES. 
 
 I. Cup of Beauty. 
 White, with pink stripes. 
 
 2. Jenny Lind. 
 White, striped with rose. 
 
 3. Mary Kurtz. 
 White, striped with pink. 
 
 4. Lizzie Jones. 
 Pale rose, striped with pink. 
 
 5. Bonomiana. 
 White, striped with crimson. 
 
 6. Feast's Perfection. 
 Satiny rose, marked with white. 
 
 For other varieties, see Camellia Catalogue in this 
 book. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 HOW TO BOX AND SHIP CAMELLIAS. — THE CURRENT 
 PRICES FOR THEM. BY WHOM THEY ARE PRINCI- 
 PALLY BOUGHT. 
 
 For the past five years Camellia flowers have not been 
 in great demand. 
 
 The present season I find them coming into popularity 
 again. 
 
 Fig. 42. Box for packing Camellia flowers. 
 
 Rose buds superseded them for a while, and they do 
 yet, to a great extent; but for large pieces, and where a 
 show is wanted, there is no flower to take the place of the 
 Camellia. 
 
 Both plant and flowers are now commanding fair 
 prices. 
 
 104 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. lOS 
 
 My Camellia flowers are generally sent west to the 
 trade, a few being sent in other directions. 
 
 For shipping, the flowers are packed in wooden boxes, 
 as Fig. 41 represents. 
 
 These boxes are lined with cotton, only one layer of 
 flowers being put in a box, which is made to hold twenty- 
 five open flowers, or fifty half blown. 
 
 Use plenty of cotton between each flower, putting a 
 good layer on the top, after which, nail the wooden top 
 down. 
 
 Wrap each box separately in good strong paper. 
 
 Ten of these boxes can be put in one bundle. 
 
 If the weather is cold, wrap the lot of boxes in a good 
 coarse blanket, and they will carry safely, if the ther- 
 mometer is not below zero. 
 
 During the past season, from October 20th to Novem- 
 ber I St, my price of flowers to the trade has been six dol- 
 lars a dozen, or forty dollars per hundred. 
 
 They are worth to me at the present time much more, 
 for my retail trade. 
 
 There is no one desirous of selling the early flowers 
 wholesale, as they command at retail seventy-five cents to 
 one dollar apiece. 
 
 From November ist to December loth my price is two 
 dollars and forty cents a dozen, or fifteen dollars per 
 hundred. 
 
 During the holidays, the prices depend on the quantity 
 in bloom. 
 
 This season they bring fifteen dollars per hundred. 
 
 I have only sent one thousand Camellias west this 
 
Io6 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 season, and these were ordered before the twenty-first of 
 December. 
 
 Between that date and the twenty-seventh of this 
 month, I received orders for over fifteen hundred, which I 
 was compelled to refuse on account of my retail orders, 
 which at this time were large. 
 
 I usually have on hand one thousand Camellias for 
 Christmas, and one thousand for New Year's, to supply 
 my home demand. 
 
 The prices they are now bringing are fully equal to 
 that of former years. 
 
 The prices I have named are for the white varieties. 
 
 The red Camellia flower is only worth half as much 
 as the white. 
 
 After the holidays the prices are considerably lower, 
 being worth from eight to ten dollars per hundred. 
 
 They usually remain at these prices until the first of 
 March. 
 
 About this time alba plefta is becoming scarce. 
 
 Although there may be many buds on the bush, very 
 few will come to perfection. 
 
 The sap will now be running freely, and the plants 
 will be preparing to make their young growth for the 
 season. 
 
 The late-blooming variety, Candidisshna, will now take 
 the place of alba plena, for double white Camellia flowers, 
 and will continue to bloom until May. 
 
 The price for the flowers during these months ranges 
 from three to six dollars per dozen. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 HOW LONG CAMELLIA FLOWERS WILL KEEP AFTER BE- 
 ING CUT FROM THE BUSH. 
 
 A QUESTION which is often asked, is how long will 
 Camellia flowers keep after being cut from the bush. 
 
 My flowers are cut every morning and laid on damp 
 moss in boxes in a dark place, where the thermometer 
 does not get above fifty degrees. 
 
 Some days I only cut fifty flowers, other days from 
 three to five hundred. 
 
 Flowers will keep ten days or two weeks, if the direc- 
 tions are followed. 
 
 Give the flowers a light sprinkle of clear water at 
 night, this will revive them and strengthen their petals. 
 
 Water will not injure the flowers. 
 
 Those flowers that I ship to a distance are pulled fresh 
 and packed the same day. 
 
 I number and date my boxes when the flowers were 
 cut from the plants, in order to use first those flowers con- 
 tained in the box of the earliest date. 
 
 107 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 FERTILIZERS. WHAT TO USE. 
 
 I NEVER use guano or any other fertilizer for 
 Camellias. 
 
 Use lime water three times a year to keep the soil 
 sweet, and kill the worms which are working in it. 
 
 This is the cause of so many plants having that yellow 
 and sickly appearance. 
 
 To obviate this trouble, take a half a peck of lime, put 
 it in a flour barrel, fill the barrel with water; do not mix 
 the lime up; allow it to stand over night so as to settle; 
 the next day it will be ready for use. 
 
 Be sure the plants get a sufficient quantity of water to 
 wet every root and fiber, and it will be only a few minutes 
 before the worms which have not already been killed will 
 come to the top of the soil. 
 
 I frequently syringe my Camellias with this water; it 
 kills many of the insects which are on the foliage. 
 
 Be careful not to stir the lime up from the bottom of 
 the barrel after it has settled. 
 
 It is only the lime water that you want. 
 
 The plants do not need to be whitewashed. 
 
 1 08 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 ON INSECTS AND PESTS TO WHICH CAMELLIAS ARE SUB- 
 JECT. RED SPIDER, MEALY BUG, SCALE, ETC. 
 
 WASH FOR THE PIPES, ETC. 
 
 When plants which have been grown in a limited 
 quantity have received the proper treatment, they will not 
 often be troubled by any pests. 
 
 Where Camellias are grown with other plants, and at a 
 high temperature, these pests will be found. 
 
 Red Spider 
 
 Is perhaps the worst enemy that Camellias have to con- 
 tend with. 
 
 It is very seldom noticed by the inexperienced, until it 
 has almost destroyed the plant. 
 
 It begins its work on the under side of the foliage. 
 
 The insect is very small, and resembles or looks like 
 flour. 
 
 By using a magnifying glass, you will see thousands of 
 these insects on one leaf. 
 
 If allowed to remain in this state, the top portion of 
 the leaf will lose its beautiful green color, and will become 
 red or brown, and in the course of a few months, this in- 
 sect will get through all the plants, so that their growth 
 and budding will stop, and the plant will eventually die. 
 
 109 
 
no CAMELLIA CULTURE, 
 
 To remedy this evil, 
 
 Wash every leaf and branch with strong rosin, coal oil or 
 whale oil soap. 
 
 If properly done, one application will be sufficient. 
 
 After washing the plant, syringe twice a day, with clear 
 water, night and morning, until the plant shows signs of 
 recovering. 
 
 If the directions are followed for syringing, etc., red 
 spider will seldom be seen among the plants. 
 
 Mealy Bug 
 
 Is an insect to which Camellias are subject. 
 
 This bug can be easily detected by its white tracks. 
 
 They are generally found most plentifully in the fall of 
 the year, when the plants are in bud, and they are always 
 found in or around the flower buds. 
 
 When the collection of plants is small, you will not be 
 bothered with this bug, unless the directions for taking 
 care of the plants have been neglected. Remedy : one 
 drop of coal oil will be all that is necessary to destroy a 
 nest of these bugs. 
 
 Scale. 
 
 A small but dangerous insect to get among the plants. 
 
 They are usually found in about the middle of the 
 leaf, and if allowed to remain, they will soon get over the 
 foliage and stem. 
 
 They stick fast to the leaf, and when but a few months 
 old, they imbed themselves firmly in the foliage, and can- 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. Ill 
 
 not be removed without taking a portion of the fiber of 
 the leaf. 
 
 My remedy for this insect is : 
 
 Use water heated to 120 or 130 degrees. Lay the 
 plant on its side, and syringe with this water. 
 
 One or two applications may be sufficient. 
 
 Small plants which are infested with this insect I 
 throw away. 
 
 Another pest. 
 
 In the spring when the plants are in a growing state, a 
 black fly will be found, but only on the young growth. 
 
 I have never found it really injurious to the plants, but 
 it gives them an unhealthy appearance. 
 
 One or two fumigatings with tobacco will destroy these 
 flies. 
 
 The following wash 
 I have used in all my houses for years, to keep insects 
 down : 
 
 Use a barrel for slacking one peck of lime (as for 
 whitewash), afterwards add half a pound of flour of sul- 
 phur; stir well together. Then whitewash all the pipes 
 and flues. 
 
 This will not injure any of the plants. 
 
 Mildew will never be seen where this wash is used. 
 
 I generally wash my pipes twice during a season. 
 
 It is not necessary to whitewash all around the house. 
 
 Wash around the furnace, the middle of the house and 
 at the extreme ends. 
 
 It is the fumes from the sulphur that is wanted. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 ON HEATING. 
 
 One of the most important matters now to be con- 
 sidered is the heating of your house. 
 
 The best and most economical way is by hot water. 
 
 By this means of heating you will escape the gas and 
 smoke which generally rises from smoke flues. 
 
 The plants will make stronger growths and bud more 
 freely, and they will also have that fine luxuriant foliage 
 which only a uniform temperature can produce. 
 
 Boilers can now be obtained, that will heat 1,400 feet 
 of four-inch pipe, for sixty dollars. 
 
 I have these boilers in operation in my houses, and 
 they give me entire satisfaction. 
 
 Boiler makers say, that by this system of heating there 
 is a great saving of fuel. 
 
 I do not find them correct in this statement. 
 
 When the thermometer marks zero outside, and I want 
 extra heat to keep the frost out of my house, I am com- 
 pelled to use coal freely. 
 
 I find it impossible to have heat without using fuel. 
 
 I am anxious to procure the boiler I so often hear of, 
 that does so much heating with such a small quantity of 
 fuel. 
 
 There will have to be some great improvement in the 
 
 112 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. II3 
 
 system of boiler making before we can get any great 
 amount of heat, without using plenty of fuel. 
 
 Economy in this manner of heating is not to be gained 
 in any saving of fuel, but it will be in saving of labor. 
 
 One boiler will now do the work that it formerly re- 
 quired six furnaces of the smoke-flue system to perform. 
 
 By hot-water heating, when the pipes are full of water, 
 and plenty of fire in the furnace, you have all that is 
 needed to do away with the great anxiety which is so 
 often felt of a cold night. 
 
 There is no danger here of flues giving away, and gas 
 escaping, which is so often the case vrith the smoke flues. 
 
 My experience, which has been so dearly bought, 
 teaches me to never use a smoke flue for a greenhouse. 
 
 A boiler and hot water pipes will cost but a trifle more, 
 in comparison to the ease and comfort you will enjoy 
 during severe weather, and also the advantage to be 
 gained in the health and vigor of your stock grown by 
 this method of heating. 
 
 I will here give the cost for heating a house with boiler 
 and hot water pipes (1879). Dimensions, span roof 
 house, one hundred feet long by thirty feet wide, ten feet 
 in the center, with four rows of pipe on the front and 
 three on the back, making in all seven hundred feet 
 of four inch pipe, with all connections made, twenty 
 cents per foot, or one hundred and forty dollars for pipe. 
 The cost of boiler to heat the same, fifty-five dollars. 
 The cost of boiler, pipes, and everything included, all the 
 work being done in a workmanlike manner, one hundred 
 and ninety-five dollars. 
 
114 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 This size boiler is calculated to heat one thousand 
 feet of four-inch pipe. 
 
 I have only seven hundred feet of pipe to this small 
 boiler. 
 
 Not only during the mild weather, but when it is 
 intensely cold, the draft door is closed to keep the tem- 
 perature down to sixty degrees. 
 
 To heat the same house (1879), at present prices, with 
 smoke flues, it will be necessary to have two furnaces, 
 with flues of one hundred feet long, from each one. The 
 cost, everything included, will be ninety dollars. 
 
 Smoke Flues 
 
 Have been used by all of us for many years, and many 
 thousands are compelled to use them at the present day, 
 as a matter of economy. 
 
 It may be so in the first outlay, but it will only be a 
 short time before the flues will crack and gas escape, de- 
 stroying more plants than three times the cost of hot 
 water. 
 
 My experience with heating by smoke flues has been 
 very unsatisfactory. 
 
 I have lost more plants from gas and smoke than it 
 cost me to erect the house in the first place. 
 
 In very severe weather, the fires have to be urged to 
 their full extent, and I find that brick and mortar will not 
 stand the intense heat. 
 
 The flues crack and give way, allowing the gas to es- 
 cape, destroying many plants in a short time, and further- 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I15 
 
 more, by this system there is no regularity of temperature, 
 and plants are generally burned up at or near the furnace, 
 and those at the extreme ends of the house are freezing. 
 
 I have used the smoke flues until recently, and I now 
 think they are better adapted for a lime or brick kiln than 
 for a greenhouse 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 SYRINGING. 
 
 No doubt many would think their plants would be in- 
 jured by syringing as frequently as I have advised, and 
 they certainly would be if done in the manner that is often 
 practiced, not only by amateur florists, but by growers. 
 
 Syringing, as I have said, is only intended for the foli- 
 age, and not for the benefit of the roots of the plant when 
 dry. 
 
 Soft-wooded plants, which are re-potted and get fresh 
 soil every month or two, can be watered and syringed at the 
 same time, or in any manner you think best for them; but 
 for the Camellia, which is only re-potted once a year, and 
 many of the large plants only once in three or five years, 
 syringing and watering at the same time will not answer. 
 
 Many persons, in syringing, use water so freely as to 
 fill the pot with drippings from the foliage. 
 
 This is not what I call dampening the foliage. 
 
 For this special plant, the work of syringing the foliage 
 and watering the roots should be done at two different 
 times. 
 
 Camellias will not flourish where the roots are 
 "slushed" with water every time the foliage is dampened. 
 
 Water the roots of your plants only when they require 
 it, and then let it be done thoroughly. 
 
 There is nothing in the growing of this plant in which 
 I am so particular as syringing or dampening the foliage. 
 
 116 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I17 
 
 I consider it of more importance than the kind of soil 
 used to grow the plants. 
 
 One of the great secrets of success in having this plant 
 looking in a fine healthy condition is to pay strict atten- 
 tion to syringing. 
 
 Few insects will then attack your plants, and they will 
 have that fine glossy green appearance which only healthy 
 Camellias will present. 
 
 Many questions have been asked about the tempera- 
 ture of the water, 
 
 I use that which comes from our city supply, and just 
 as it is drawn from the pipes, during winter or summer, 
 warm or cold weather. 
 
 I never find that the temperature makes any difference. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 VENTILATING THE CAMELLIA HOUSES. 
 
 This is another very important matter to be considered 
 in growing this plant, as it seldom receives as much air as 
 is required to make it thrive well. 
 
 During the winter my Camellia houses are aired every 
 day that the sun shines on them, whether the thermometer 
 outside denotes freezing or not. 
 
 Keep the temperature inside the house low before 
 airing. 
 
 Do not allow the temperature, as many do, to run up 
 to eighty or one hundred just before airing. 
 
 This is more heat than the plant requires at any time. 
 
 You cannot perhaps always regulate the heat from the 
 pipes or flues, having had strong fires during the previous 
 night, but you can regulate the temperature during the 
 day by ventilation. 
 
 In ventilating, do not pull the sash half way down on 
 the houses, or throw open all the ventilators as though it 
 were a summer day, as your plants will not stand a 
 draught of air, neither will they thrive if chilled. 
 
 Ventilate for plants as you would for your children, if 
 they were kept in a close room. 
 
 Open your sash or ventilator according to the temper- 
 ature you have in the house, not forgetting that even if 
 freezing outside, opening the sash a quarter or half an 
 
 ii8 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. II9 
 
 inch will be beneficial on a day when the sun is shining 
 on the house. 
 
 There are so many dark and dismal days during the 
 winter, when it is necessary to close every hole and crevice, 
 that when it is possible to air your Camellias, you should 
 do so by all means. 
 
 Never allow the doors of your houses to be opened for 
 ventilation during the winter. In plain terms, this is a 
 lazy man's way of doing. 
 
 During the summer months, open all the doors and 
 windows, so as to give your plants all the air possible. 
 
 During the winter months, the atmosphere outside, as 
 well as inside, must act as a guide in regard to the time 
 for ventilating. 
 
 As a general rule, I gradually begin airing my houses 
 about 10 A. M., or earlier if necessary, giving a little more 
 air at 12 m. 
 
 About 2 p. M. I begin closing the ventilators, in order 
 to have all air off by 4 p. M. 
 
 Many may think I have placed too much stress on the 
 question of ventilating. If such persons will observe the 
 condition of plants which are grown in a well and a poorly 
 ventilated house, they will at once agree with me in pro- 
 nouncing ventilating to be a matter of the greatest conse- 
 quence. 
 
CHAPTER XLIL 
 
 ON SHADING. TO PREVENT THE FOLIAGE FROM 
 
 BURNING. 
 
 In a former chapter I recommend whiting and white- 
 wash, believing it to be the best material to use for 
 shading Camellia structures; in fact I have used these 
 articles myself for years. 
 
 I have, within a short time, had presented to me a 
 new process, which I think will far surpass the untidy use 
 of whitewash and whiting, and also the very expensive 
 way of shading with canvas and laths. 
 
 Whitewash is often used so thick that it casts a gloom 
 over the interior of the house. It also has the appearance 
 of boards being placed over the glass to exclude the 
 strong light. 
 
 All such practices are very unsatisfactory. 
 
 Our object is to give the interior of the house the ap- 
 pearance of the structure being covered with ground- 
 glass. 
 
 This new process, which I am now using for shading, 
 so far surpasses the old way, that I do not think that any 
 one who will adopt it will ever be willing to use the old 
 wash. 
 
 Receipt for the wash. — One gallon of turpentine, one 
 pint of boiled linseed oil, well mixed. 
 
 This mixture can be put on the glass with an ordinary 
 
 whitewash brush. 
 
 1 20 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 121 
 
 It is possible that the glass will need to be washed 
 twice during the season. 
 
 The frost will in all probability clean the glass of this 
 mixture by the middle of November. 
 
 At this time shading can be dispensed with, as the 
 plants will now require all the light that it is possible to 
 give them. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 ON PACKING PLANTS. 
 
 I HAVE referred to the packing and shipment of 
 CameUia flowers. 
 
 I will now endeavor to give my mode of packing the 
 plants. 
 
 From the first of June until the last of September, I 
 pack in shallow wooden boxes, as represented in Fig. 42. 
 
 Fig 43. Box lor summer packing of plants. 
 
 This box is twelve inches deep. 
 
 Place upright strips of wood in each corner of the box, 
 on which nail a few laths to protect the plants and foli- 
 age from careless handling. 
 
 122 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I23 
 
 Put one or two layers of plants in a box in an upright 
 position, as shown in the engraving. 
 
 The plants can be taken from the pots if the ball of 
 earth will hold together. 
 
 Put a little dry moss around the ball of earth, then 
 wrap in coarse brown paper. 
 
 The plants will carry safely when packed in this way, 
 if the time does not exceed two weeks. 
 
 All the directions have been given which are necessary 
 for these months. 
 
 For October, November, December, January, Febru- 
 ary and March, pack in close boxes, which should be 
 lined with a double thickness of coarse paper, then a good 
 layer of meadow hay on the bottom and sides of box. 
 Use moss around the ball of earth and wrap in brown 
 paper both the ball of roots and the foliage. 
 
 This paper will keep the buds from being injured; it 
 will also prevent the plants from heating in the boxes. 
 
 Begin packing by laying one layer of plants on the 
 bottom of the box, with three inches of hay over them; 
 then another layer of plants, and so on until the box is 
 filled, not forgetting to put an extra layer of hay over the 
 plants before closing the box, so that the plants may not 
 shake about by loose packing. 
 
 Pack perfectly solid and there will not be any danger 
 of injury to either the roots or foliage. 
 
 Camellia plants packed in this way will keep well for 
 two months. 
 
 This manner of packing is far superior to the old way 
 
124 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 of placing the plants on the sides of the box, with strips 
 placed against them to keep them in position. 
 
 Double the quantity of plants can be put in the same 
 size box by the new system of packing, and they will 
 reach the purchaser in much better condition. 
 
 For the months of April and May, I do not recom- 
 mend shipping Camellia plants, for it is only during these 
 months that they make their growth for the year. 
 
 Should this growth be checked, the result will be no 
 flowers the coming fall and winter. 
 
 The best months for shipping this plant are September, 
 October and November. 
 
 Three important matters in packing and forwarding 
 during the winter months, are: 
 
 First. To have the moss perfectly dry which is to be 
 placed around the ball of earth. 
 
 Second. Do not water the plants the day they are to 
 be packed, and especially if they are to be sent a long 
 distance. I prefer always to pack moderately dry, for 
 plants packed closely will create a moisture of themselves. 
 It will be much better for the purchaser to receive the 
 plants in a dry condition, for by soaking them in water 
 for a few hours, they will in all probability recover with 
 the loss of only their foliage; but if received in a wet and 
 mouldy condition, there is no remedy within my knowl- 
 edge that will restore them to their former health. In all 
 probability the majority of them will die. 
 
 Thirdly. Always have the plants forwarded by ex- 
 press; it will be found to be the quickest and most reli- 
 able, as well as the cheapest way in the end. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I25 
 
 I will give one instance of the great advantage to be 
 gained in shipping plants by express over that of freight. 
 
 During the latter part of December, a firm in San 
 Francisco ordered from me one hundred Camellia plants, 
 for which they paid thirty dollars, giving instructions to 
 have them sent immediately by freight, which I did. 
 
 The freight on the box, weighing less than one hundred 
 pounds, was six dollars. 
 
 Six weeks after they were shipped, I received a letter 
 from the firm, saying the plants on their arrival were 
 found to be dead. 
 
 The firm acknowledged the packing to have been done 
 in a superior manner, thereby exonerating me from all 
 blame. 
 
 The box was on the road six weeks, and in a climate 
 where for days the thermometer stood ten or twenty de- 
 grees below zero. 
 
 It is impossible to pack for this extreme cold. 
 
 The cost of plants and freight was thirty-six dollars. 
 
 If sent by express, the plants and express charges 
 would have been something less than fifty dollars, but 
 they would have been received in perfect order. 
 
 This loss will not deter the firm from ordering again, 
 but they will have them sent at the proper season by 
 express. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 ON PRUNING LARGE PLANTS. 
 
 The best time to do this work is during the months of 
 January and February, when re-potting or when examin- 
 ing the plants; or it can be done just before they begin 
 to make their growth. 
 
 As a general thing, the growth of the Camellia plant 
 for one season is only from two to four inches. 
 
 A little judgment must be used as to the way to prune, 
 and what to cut away. 
 
 In pruning good healthy plants, cut all small and twig- 
 gy shoots from the middle of the plant; also all branches 
 that have dead or dormant eyes, cut back to a prominent 
 eye. 
 
 Keep in mind that there is nothing so unsightly in a 
 collection of Camellias as a straggling, unshapely plant, 
 with but few leaves, and these on the top shoots, and the 
 plant supported with sticks. 
 
 This plant should be grown in such a way that it can 
 support its own wood without the aid of sticks. 
 
 For sickly plants use the knife freely, cut well back, 
 not looking for a prominent eye, but for the shape of the 
 plant. 
 
 It will be of little consequence should the plant be 
 void of foliage after this pruning. 
 
 126 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 127 
 
 Give good bottom heat for six weeks, and they will put 
 forth many fine and vigorous shoots. 
 
 Pruning, in this chapter, is intended only for plants 
 ten years and older. 
 
 I have, in a former chapter, recommended the best 
 way to prune younger plants. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE GREAT NECESSITY FOR USING ONLY THE HEALTH- 
 IEST PLANTS FOR CUTTING, GRAFTING AND INARCH- 
 ING. NO IMPROVEMENT TO BE REACHED BY FORC- 
 ING THE PLANTS. 
 
 In looking over the preceding chapters, I find that 
 though I have spoken of the propriety of selecting healthy 
 plants for propagation, either by cuttings, by grafting, or 
 by inarching, I have not insisted upon it perhaps quite as 
 strongly as I should, yet there is hardly anything con- 
 nected with the propagation of the Camellia which is of 
 more importance than this. 
 
 In this country, only the single varieties of the 
 Camellia Japonica, and but a very small portion of them, 
 are raised from the seed. 
 
 All the double and half double varieties, and many of 
 the single ones, are propagated by grafting and inarching, 
 or from cuttings. 
 
 This is a necessity, because the full flowering double 
 kinds never perfect seed; and if they did, it would not 
 be true to the parent flower. 
 
 These modes of propagation are all artificial, and in 
 
 this plant, as in almost all others which are propagated by 
 
 cuttings, there is a strong tendency to deteriorate, as for 
 
 instance the worthless variety of candidissima which never 
 
 flowers. 
 
 128 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I29 
 
 The only way to prevent this tendency is to select 
 for the cuttings, grafts and inarchings, only the most per- 
 fect and healthy plants. 
 
 One diseased plant thus used, and its progeny in turn 
 used for cuttings, may communicate disease and deteriora- 
 tion to others, and thus infect a whole bench. 
 
 We value the Camellia for its perfect flowers, coming 
 as they do at a season of the year when other white flow- 
 ers of equal beauty are not plenty; but a diseased or im- 
 perfect plant or cutting can never produce perfect flowers. 
 
 Some florists have been either careless or lacking in 
 knowledge on this point, and their neglect has resulted 
 badly for themselves, and has given the impression in some 
 quarters that the Camellia must give place to other 
 flowers. 
 
 If the directions I have given, in the preceding chap- 
 ters are carefully followed, Ave shall not hear so much 
 about sickly Camellia plants, with no flower buds; but 
 they will improve, and we may yet improve them so much 
 that we may have a constant succession of large double 
 white flowers from October to May, not all of one variety 
 but of several, all blooming at different times. 
 
 This must not be attempted by forcing the plants, as I 
 have said before, because that will ruin them in a very few 
 years, but by propagating earlier and later varieties which 
 possess all the best characteristics of the alba plena and 
 the free-flowering candidissima. 
 6* 
 
CHAPTER XLVL 
 
 CALENDAR FOR THE MONTHS. 
 
 January. 
 
 Towards the last of this month begin to re-pot those 
 plants that require it, and top-dress others with fresh 
 soil. 
 
 Pick off all the dead buds, branches and yellow leaves. 
 
 Keep the house and plants as clean as possible. 
 
 The fires during this month are generally very strong; 
 syringe three or four times a week. 
 
 The more heat in the houses the more moisture will be 
 required to rid the plants of red spider, mealy bug, etc. 
 
 Grafting 
 
 Can be done this month, but I prefer July and August. 
 
 Plants which were inarched last July will now require 
 the twine taken off, for, by this time, the inarch should be 
 firmly united and able to support itself. 
 
 Cut away all the single stock down to the inarch, so 
 that it may heal over and not give an unsightly appear- 
 ance to the plant in after years; re-pot or top-dress, as the 
 plant may require. 
 
 Those plants which were grafted last July should be 
 taken out of the pots and the roots examined. 
 
 Most of them will need to have a portion of the earth 
 
 130 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. I3I 
 
 taken from the ball, and it must be renewed with good 
 fresh soil. 
 
 Many of the inarched and grafted plants would be 
 much improved by being topped at this time, if you want 
 low and bushy plants; but by so doing, the plants would 
 not afford a good straight stem to inarch from in July. 
 
 I would allow them to go without topping, if I wished 
 to have wood to inarch from again the following July, but 
 if not, I would top them freely. 
 
 Alba plena, and other Camellia cuttings which were 
 placed in the sand-bed last November, will require bottom 
 heat this month. 
 
 Once during this month water the plants thoroughly 
 with lime water, to kill the worms and other pests. 
 
 February. 
 
 Finish re-potting all Camellia plants that were not at- 
 tended to last month. 
 
 Pruning should also be done this month; treat the 
 plants the same as for January. 
 
 About the last of the month, gradually lower the tem- 
 perature for the cuttings that were placed in the sand-bed 
 last November, bringing it down to fifty degrees in 
 March. 
 
 During this month, the flowers of alba plena will be 
 getting scarce, and by the end of the month nearly all 
 will have bloomed that will come to perfection. 
 
 The flowers of Camellia catididissima will begin to 
 open near the close of this month. 
 
132 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 March. 
 
 Almost all the white Camellias will be through flow- 
 ering. 
 
 Although the plants have buds on, very few will come 
 to perfection. 
 
 The sap is now running freely, and the plants are 
 about ready to make their young growth for the coming 
 season. 
 
 Keep them a little warmer just at this time, say sixty 
 to seventy degrees. 
 
 Give them plenty of room and all the light that is pos- 
 sible between the plants. 
 
 Have the glass shaded with whiting, lime or the new 
 mixture, to prevent the strong rays of the sun from burn- 
 ing the foliage. 
 
 Syringe three times a week. 
 
 Fumigating with tobacco will be beneficial to the 
 plants during this month. 
 
 The plants are now in a growing state, and will re- 
 quire more water than at any other season. 
 
 Inarching 
 
 Can be done this month, but when there are hundreds 
 to be inarched I prefer the months of July and August, 
 
 April. 
 
 Many of the plants will be still growing. 
 Treat the same as for last month. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. ' 133 
 
 Syringe with lime water, and also fumigate with to- 
 bacco. 
 
 I do not recommend any one to buy Camellia plants, 
 particularly alba plena, in this month or May, especially if 
 they are to be transported far, as it will be apt to interfere 
 with their young growth. 
 
 May. 
 
 The plants will now be ripening their wood. 
 
 At this time more air is required, and both top and 
 side ventilation is necessary. 
 
 Keep the house at the lowest temperature. 
 
 Close the ventilators at night. 
 
 Set the red varieties outside, and give the space to the 
 white flowering varieties that are going to be housed dur- 
 ing the summer. 
 
 Where Camellias are grown with other plants, I would 
 advise all to be set outside, both red and white. 
 
 Plunge the pots in the earth up to the rim. 
 
 Keep them from the drip of trees, etc. 
 
 Syringe three times a week. 
 
 Take all the plants off the staging. 
 
 If possible keep them on the ground floor, and farther 
 from the glass than during the winter months, 
 
 June. 
 
 The plants will now be forming their buds. 
 Give them all the air that is possible, both day and 
 night. 
 
134 CAMELLIA CULTURE, 
 
 Keep the house cool by shading the glass and watering 
 the pathways during the middle of the day. 
 Syringe as for the month of May. 
 
 The Cuttings 
 
 Which were put in the sand-bed last November should 
 now be thoroughly rooted, and ready for pots and soil. 
 
 July. 
 
 The buds will now be formed. 
 
 Give the plants the same treatment as for last month. 
 
 Inarching and grafting can be done successfully dur- 
 ing this month. 
 
 Those plants that were inarched last summer will do 
 to "work" on the stock at this time. 
 
 If the weather during this month is hot and dry, 
 syringe the Camellias that are out in the open air fre- 
 quently, and they will be greatly benefited by it. 
 
 August. 
 
 Shade, air and syringe the same as for last month. 
 
 The grafting and inarching, if not completed in July, 
 may be continued this month. 
 
 If the white varieties are kept in the greenhouse, they 
 should be carefully watched, for pests are apt to infest 
 them; and syringe daily during this month. 
 
 September, 
 Towards the middle of this month, house those plants 
 which were put out in May. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 135 
 
 Keep them up as near the glass as is possible. 
 
 Give the white varieties the best positions. 
 
 The air must be taken off in ih^ afternoon, and the 
 house closed as if it was cold weather. 
 
 Do not let the plants have a check this month. 
 
 Water only those plants that are dry. 
 
 Use lime water this month. 
 
 "Wash those which are infected with red spider, mealy 
 bug, etc. 
 
 Those plants which were inarched in July will now be 
 ready to be topped and cut from the parent plant. 
 
 The grafted plants will be firmly united, and the sash 
 can be taken off — the frame inside the greenhouse. 
 
 October. 
 
 Remove all shading from the glass. 
 
 Allow the plants to have the full rays of the sun from 
 this time until February or March, or until you see the 
 foliage beginning to burn. 
 
 A little fire this month, say twice a week, will greatly 
 benefit the plants. 
 
 It will keep many of the buds from falling off, and the 
 flowers will be much finer; it will also dry up the damp- 
 ness which is so frequently found in Camellia houses dur- 
 ing this month, which is caused by the heavy syringing 
 during the summer. 
 
 Be careful in watering. . 
 
 Syringe twice a week. 
 
 Plenty of air when the day is fine. 
 
136 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Novetnber. 
 
 Many of the white varieties will begin blooming this 
 month. 
 
 Air and syringe as for last month. 
 
 Keep temperature of house ranging from fifty to fifty- 
 five degrees. 
 
 All Camellia cuttings should be placed in sand-bed or 
 box this month. 
 
 December. 
 
 Towards the middle or last of this month, the plants, 
 especially alba plena and the blush and rose varieties, will 
 be at their height in flowering. 
 
 After the fifteenth, the flowers are usually in great de- 
 mand at high prices. 
 
 Air as directed for October and November. 
 
 Keep the temperature of the house at between fi.'ty 
 and fifty-five degrees, Fahrenheit. 
 
 The weather is usually colder this month, and more 
 artificial heat is required. 
 
 Syringe three to four times a week. 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 CAMELLIA CATALOGUE. 
 
 Our catalogues contain an almost endless list of dif- 
 ferent varieties of Camellias. Many of them are so near 
 alike that it will be almost impossible to distinguish them 
 apart when in flower. 
 
 In a previous chapter I have named twenty-two vari- 
 eties, which I grow principally, and can recommend them 
 as being amongst the best that are advertised in any 
 catalogue. 
 
 Those that I name in the following list, and which I 
 know to be good, I mark thus (*), although there may be 
 others in the list which are equally good, and perhaps 
 better, but I have never seen them in flower to judge of 
 their merits : 
 
 *Alba Plena, old double white. 
 *Alexina, blush white, spotted carmine, 
 
 Albicans, white. 
 *Adrian le Brune, rose. 
 *A. J. Downing, satiny rose, marked white. 
 
 Americana, blush. 
 
 Angelo Cocchi, carnation, striped. 
 
 Antoinetta Lomellini, rose and white. 
 *Archduchess Augusta, violet crimson. 
 
 Aspasia, bright red, marked with white. 
 
 Aulica Lodiges, pale rose. 
 
 137 
 
138 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 Barnii, crimson and white. 
 *Baron de Vriere, rose, pale center. 
 *Baltimorea, crimson and white. 
 
 Belle Romana, rose, striped. 
 
 Benneyi, crimson, white center. 
 *Bonomiana, white, striped with crimson. 
 *Brooklyana, pink, white spots. 
 
 Caleb Cope, blush rose. 
 *Candidissima, white, fine form. 
 
 Candor, white. 
 *Carswelliana, dark crimson. 
 
 Centifolia, deep, dark rose. 
 
 Centifolia Carnea, delicate flesh. 
 *Chalmerii, perfect bright pink. 
 *Chandlerii, dark red. 
 
 *Contessa Lavinia Maggi, white, shaded crimson. 
 *Countess of Derby, white, striped rose. 
 *Countess of Orkney, white, striped carmine. 
 *Cup of Beauty, white, striped pink. 
 
 Delicata, blush. 
 *Donklerii, half double, crimson and white. 
 *Dunlop's Imbricata, rose and white. 
 *Dunlop's New White. 
 
 Elata, violet crimson. 
 *Ellen Mackenzie, rose red. 
 
 Emilia Campione, rose carmine. 
 
 Emilia Gavazzi, rose, white, striped. 
 *Eximia, deep red. 
 *Feast's Perfection, satiny rose. 
 *Fimbriata, fringed white. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. 1 39 
 
 *Fordii, rose. 
 
 Giardini Schmitz, rose and white. 
 *Gilesii, crimson and white half double. 
 
 General Lafayette, bright rose. 
 
 Grahamii, blush white. 
 *Henri Le Favre, dark rose. 
 *Helen, rosy red. 
 *Hempsteadii, crimson. 
 *Imbricata, crimson and white. 
 *Iride, bright rose. 
 *Jeffersonii, bright crimson. 
 *Jenny Lind, white, pink striped. 
 
 Jubilee, blush white. 
 
 Jupiter, salmon, striped white. 
 
 Kingii, white and rose. 
 *Lady Hume's Blush, delicate blush. 
 
 Lady Kyle, blush. 
 *Landrethii, pale rose. 
 *La Reine, white, striped with carmine. 
 
 La Puce, white, striped red. 
 *Lizzie Jones, rose, striped red. 
 *Lowii, dark red. 
 
 Lucullus, deep red. 
 *Madam Ambroise Vferschaffelt, white, striped carmine. 
 
 Madam Lebois, bright rose. 
 
 Madam Beauvois, light rose. 
 
 Mammoth, red and white. 
 
 Marchioness of Salisbury, red and white, variegated. 
 *Maria Teresa, blush, white spots. 
 
 Marie Morren, white, spotted. 
 
I40 CAMELLIA CULTURE. 
 
 *Mary Kurtz, white, striped pink. 
 *Mary Edmondson, white. 
 
 Mathotiana, deep red. 
 
 Mathotiana Alba, large white. 
 *Miniata, dark rose. 
 *Miniata Striata, red and white. 
 *Miniata Violacea, violet and white. 
 *Mrs. Lurman, crimson, spotted pink. 
 *Mrs. Abby Wilder, white, striped pink. 
 *Mrs. Cope, white, pink stripes. 
 
 Mrs. Dombrain, delicate pink. 
 *Mrs. Fetters, crimson. 
 
 Mrs. Gunnell, Avhite. 
 
 Mrs. Ritchie, white and rose. 
 
 Miss Percival, white. 
 
 Monarch, rich crimson. 
 *Myrtifolia, dark rose. 
 *Myrtifolia Alba, white. 
 
 Napoleon, white, striped red. 
 
 Nicholsonii, pink, veined white. 
 *Palmer's Perfection, deep red, banded with white. 
 
 Picta, pale rose, striped. 
 *Prince Albert, white, tipped carmine. 
 
 Princess Mathilde, bright rose. 
 *Princess Bacciochi, crimson and white. [white. 
 
 *Prince Frederick William, deep crimson, marked with 
 *Queen of Denmark, crimson. 
 *Queen Victoria, brilliant red striped. 
 
 Reine des Beauties, clear rose. 
 *Reine des Fleurs, deep red. 
 
CAMELLIA CULTURE. H^ 
 
 Rosea Triumphans, dark violet rose. 
 
 Rio Leopold, rose and white. 
 
 Rubens, deep rose. 
 *Sacco, pale rose. 
 *Sarah Frost, rosy crimson. 
 *Serratifolia, crimson and white. 
 *Sherwoodii, dark rose. 
 ^Sovereign (Low's), creamy white. 
 Spinea, white, pink stripes. 
 Stella, rosy carmine, striped white. 
 
 *Stiles' Perfection, rose striped. 
 Teutonia, rose and white. 
 
 *Tricolor, single white, red striped. 
 
 *Variegata, rosy crimson, with white. 
 
 *Valderado, crimson and white. 
 
 *Virgin di Colle Beato, white, spiral flower. 
 
 *Wilderii, bright rosy pink. 
 
 *William Penn, dark crimson. 
 
 *William IV, fine rose color. 
 
BOOKS ON FLORICULTURE. 
 
 I HAVE frequent inquiries as to which are the best 
 books for beginners, and those who are seeking general 
 information as regards Floriculture, etc. 
 
 I have read the following works, and have found they 
 contain more practical knowledge and information than 
 any other books that have yet been issued from the Ameri- 
 can press : 
 
 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 
 
 A guide to the successful cultivation of the market and 
 
 family garden. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. 
 
 GARDENING FOR PLEASURE. 
 
 A guide to the amateur in the fruit, vegetable and flower 
 
 garden, with full directions for the greenhouse, 
 
 conservatory and window garden. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. 
 
 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 
 
 A guide to the successful cultivation of the florist's plants. 
 
 For the amateur and professional florist. 
 
 By Peter Henderson. 
 
 Price of each book, post-paid, %\ 50, and can be had at 
 any seedsman. 
 
 142