Practical camellia culture : a treatise on the propagation and culture of the Camellia japonica

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 cultivation 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 cultivators, I do not doubt that the present work will be in some degree acceptable.

I do not write for the instruction of experienced cultivators, 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 process 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,

PREFACE.

grafting, or growing the single and double red from cuttings.

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.

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

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 flowering 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 sixteen feet wide 60

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 Camelliacece) 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 missionary 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) regarded 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 Japoiiica 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 l6 IXTRODUCTIOX.

and Japanese have man)' skillful florists, and they have produced numerous varieties and sub-species, and of varied and beautiful colors and combinations of colors. Since their introduction into Europe and America, new varieties of exquisite beauty have been constantly produced 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 supplies 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 represented 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 wellripened wood placed in the sand-bed during the month of November.

Fig. I represents the cutting 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 varieties, 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 process of growing successfully all the double red varieties, and alba plena also, from cuttings, excels grafting, inarching, 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 considerable space occupied in the various processes of their growth. Inarching requires 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 disastrous results.

Simple as grafting may appear, I have seen on my place, from one thousand grafted 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.

Fig. 2.

Single Camellia Stock, three years old.

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 establishment, where thousands of all sizes can be seen at any time.

I prefer growing from cuttings, and I think the majority 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 present 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 person 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.

CAMELLIA CULTURE.

CAMELLIA CULTURE.

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 cuttings 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.

I prefer to take cuttings during the month of November. 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 abovenamed 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 mentioned, 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 accommodate the cuttings, a question of great importance is to

be considered, which will be the best length of cutting to use ? Having wood for cuttings in great abundance, I can, without any sacrifice, cut branches from four to five eyes long. (Fig. 5 represents 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.

Fig. 5- Cutting five eyes long.

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 twoeyed 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 single 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 remained 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 defect 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.

Fig. 7- Cutting from a single eye.

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 unhealthy 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

CAMELLIA CULTURE.

earlier the wound will heal, and cause the cutting to callus ; 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 injury 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 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 succession 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 degrees ; 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.