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 of temperature.  A close or arid atmosphere often leads to the same results.  Camellias can hardly have too free a circulation of air or too low a temperature.  Another frequent cause of buds dropping arises from either too little or too much water at the roots.  Either a paucity or excess of water at the roots should lead to identical results.  Most amateurs overwater their camellias during their flowering stages.  Seeing so many buds expanding, they naturally rush to the conclusion that a good deal of water must be used to fill them to bursting point.  But the opening of camellia buds is less a manufacture than a mere development, and the strain on the plant and drain on the roots is far less during this stage than many suppose.  Of course the opposite extreme of over-dry roots must be provided against, else this would also cause the plants to cast off their buds.

But our object now is less to point out how buds are to be developed into fully expanded flowers than to show how they were to be formed in plenty, and the plants preserved in robust health year after year.  One of the simplest and surest modes of reaching this desirable end is to adopt a system of semi-tropical treatment for two months or so after flowering.  The moment or even before the late blooms fade, the plants should be pruned if necessary.  Few plants bear the knife better than camellias, though it is folly to cut them unless they are too tall or too large for their quarters or have grown out of form.  As a rule healthy camellias produce sufficient or even a redundancy of shoots without cutting back; but should they need pruning, after flowering is the best time to perform the operation.

During the breaking of the tender leaves and the growth of the young shoots in their first stages, the plant should be shaded from direct sunshine, unless, indeed, they are a long way from the glass, when the diffusion and dispersion of the rays of light tone down or break their scorching force; few young leaves and shoots are more tender and easily burned than camellia, and scorching not only disfigures the plants, but also hinders the formation of fine growths and the development of flower-buds.