54 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Frey: I think the Chatenay is a good one also. 



The President: Yes, the Madame Chatenay does well with Mr. Brown 

 at Geneva. 



Mr. Green: For the benefit of those who read this report I would 

 like to say that these roses are not all hybrid teas, although they are good 

 ones. 



Mr. Youngers: I would like to say that the varieties we have, the 

 Golden Gate. Liberty, etc., will stand out and do well with protection. 



Mr. "Williams: Yes, we have had no trouble at all with them at Grand 

 Island, 



The President: We will now have Mr. Frey's paper on "The Ideal 

 Carnation." 



THE IDEAL CAKNATION. 



IBWIN FREY, LINCOLN. 



Every man has his ideals^ existing in imagination only; the highest 

 and best conceivable, the perfect. So with the lover of the carnation. 

 This being true, all we can do is to give our own opinion of what the 

 ideal is, or what it should be. 



Our first thought is a large flower, perfect in form, fragrance and 

 color, and very prolific; doing well with everybody. But this must not 

 be or the flower would lose the prominent position it now holds, 

 as the hybridizer and grower would have no goal to work for and the 

 flower-loving public would get tired seeing the same thing, no difference 

 how fine it is. 



Personally, I would not want a flower larger than a well-grown Pros- 

 perity or Enchantress. Speaking of Enchantress, I do not know of a 

 variety in commerce that comes nearer approaching the ideal. Still, 

 Enchantress has some faults and can be improved upon. From November 

 to the first of March^ the size, stem and color are almost perfect. From 

 this time on, the size and stem remain good, but the color assumes a 

 faded appearance; more so as the season advances. So, I would choose 

 my ideals from the varieties now in commerce, with improvements on 

 the best of each color. For instance, an improved Lawson, like some 

 of our disseminators have told us about, larger in size; color a shade 

 brighter; a foot more stem, and just as productive. Fine picture that, 

 a real ideal, but so far the mind only and not the eye. 



At the present rate of advancement, however, the time is not far 

 distant when our present ideals will be surpassed. Take, for instance, 

 the days of Lizzie McGowan and Grace Wilder, that being the limit of 

 my personal remembrance, the wholesale price of carnations ranged from 

 75 cents up to $3 per hundred, in seasons of particular demand, while the 

 past holiday season saw the best present day varieties commanding $12 

 per hundred. This change has been brought about through the introduc- 

 tion of better varieties; through better methods of growing, gained by 

 study and interchange of experiences. Early planting has played no 



