40 THE FLORIST. 



CARNATIONS FOR EXHIBITION. 



I AM deli"-hted to observe that, in " Dahlias for Exhibition" you have 

 commenced on a subject which I have long thought needed conside- 

 ration ; for o-ranting that there is always in results that which only 

 can be obtained by careful attention and a certain acquaintance with 

 *' fino-er and thumb" practice, yet I know that there is a very large 

 amount of success which may be easily communicated by the teach- 

 ings of experience. 



Substituting the ** Carnation" for the "Dahlia," well enough I 

 know^ you may write, " We find from experience that a great number 

 of flowers require diflTerent treatment," and that " in a collection of 

 Carnations there will be flowers of various and some of opposite cha- 

 racters and habits ;" and that the success or disappointment of the 

 cultivator depends largely on his mastering these variations ; in other 

 words, this is precisely the value of experience. In illustration of this 

 I may mention that, during the last season, a cultivator, who occupies 

 quite a leading place in the Midlands, wrote to me that Duncan, C.B., 

 and Owen Glendower, C.B., were worthless. Here, how^ever, these 

 varieties are eminently satisfactory, and aflTord to myself and many 

 friends, excellent judges and enthusiastic florists, the greatest delight 

 — a result I attribute solely to my having seen them in previous sea- 

 sons, and carefully noted their habit of growth, bloom, colours, &c. 

 Thus a brief observation secured for me unmitigated satisfaction ; 

 while my friend, for the want of it, reaped nothing but disappoint- 

 ment. Again, when at the last Chiswick show, I noticed Alfred quite 

 deficient, as I thought, of all that had secured for it the favourable 

 encomiums of yourself and others ; and this arose simply from its not 

 being half-grown. True, the plants were beautifully clean and healthy ; 

 and experienced as the exhibitors were, want of growth might possi- 

 bly have been the last thing they would have thought of referring its 

 comparative inferiority to ; yet 1 am very sure that much stronger 

 growth would have produced a more satisfactory result. 



I imagine that I have shewn, therefore, good cause for calling 

 upon you to give " Carnations for Exhibition" as well as Dahlias ; and 

 aided as I know you can be at any time by our great raisers — our 

 Mays, Matthewses, Puxleys, Fellow^es, Headleys, Burroughes, and 

 Marrises — I am sure your remarks cannot but be both interesting 

 and useful; possibly quite as much so to the veteran as to the tyro. 

 If to this you can add a history of the most popular varieties — the 

 parentage of our Juhets, Jessicas, Ophelias, Portias, Ganymedes, 

 Prince Arthur, Lord Nelson, Venus, King James, Ariel, Lorenzo, 

 Sontag, Ow^en Glendower, Falconbridge, Jenny Lind, General Monk, 

 Duncan, Perfection, &c. &c., — you will oblige not only me, but a 

 host of others, and greatly aid in throwing light on the present 

 " splendid mystery" of colour in seedlings. 



Derby. E. S. Dodwell. 



