discussion he says: "To the question, _Is this an animal or a plant?_
we must often reply, _We do not know_."--_The Microscope._

* * * * *

CAMELLIAS.

Next to the rose, no flower* is more beautiful or more useful than the
camellia. It may readily be so managed that its natural season of
blooming shall be from October to March, thus coming in at a time when
roses can hardly be had without forcing. In every quality, with the
single exception of scent, the camellia may be pronounced the equal of
the rose. It can be used in all combinations or for all purposes for
which roses can be employed. In form and color it is probably more
perfect, and fully as brilliant. It is equally or more durable, either
on the plant or as a cut flower. It is a little dearer to buy, and
perhaps slightly more difficult to cultivate; but like most plants the
camellia has crucial periods in its life, when it needs special
treatment. That given, it may be grown with the utmost ease; that
withheld, its culture becomes precarious, or a failure. The camellia
is so hardy that it will live in the open air in many parts of Great
Britain, and herein lies a danger to many cultivators. Because it is
quite or almost hardy, they keep it almost cool. This is all very well
if the cool treatment be not carried to extremes, and persisted in all
the year round. Camellias in a dormant state will live and thrive in
any temperature above the freezing point, and will take little or no
hurt if subjected to from 3 deg.-4 deg. below it, or a temperature of 27 deg.
Fahr.

* Transcriber's Note: Original "flour".

They will also bloom freely in a temperature of 40 deg., though 45 deg. suits
them better. Hence, during the late summer and early autumn it is
hardly possible to keep camellias too cool either out of doors or in.
They are also particularly sensitive to heat just before the
flower-buds begin to swell in late autumn or winter; a sudden or
sensible rise of temperature at that stage sends the flower-buds off
in showers. This is what too often happens, in fact, to the camellias
of amateurs. No sooner do the buds begin to show then a natural
impatience seizes the possessor's of well-budded camellias to have the
flowers opened. More warmth, a closer atmosphere, is brought to bear
upon them, and down fall the buds in showers on stage or floor--the
chief cause of this slip between the buds and the open flowers being a
rise