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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
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