MAY 10, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



725 



M77X, 



Tree for Decorative Purposes. 



things, such as gardenias, extra grade 

 oattleyas. Baroness Rothschild. Brun- 

 ners and superti Jacqueminots, can 

 only be had in New Yorlv at Thomas 

 Young's, 43 West 2Sth St. Christy 

 roses have been used in some ot the 

 swellest bridesmaids' bouquets thi.s 

 season. 



Get ready for Decoration Day. 

 There promises to be an extra good 

 trade this year. IVERA. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF CARNA- 

 TIONS IN AMERICA. 



Bv C. W. Ward, Queens, N. V. 



[Read before the Massactiusetts Horticulturr.l 

 S jciety.] 



Our carnation, Dianthus cary- 

 nphyllus, erroneously called Pink by 

 many people, is a native of Southern 

 Kurope. In its original state it is a 

 halt hardy herbaceous perennial, 

 growing about two feet in height. 

 The original flower was fle.sh-colored 

 and contained five broad petals. Its 

 natural period ot blooming in the 

 open air is from .lune to August. It 

 is said to exist in a wild state in Eng- 

 land, where it was introduced sup- 

 liosedly about the time of the Roman 

 invasion. As long ago as 300 years 

 B. C. the carnation was described by 

 Thcophrastus, who gave it the name 

 of niantluis, from the Greek Dies, 

 divine and Anthos, flower. The name 

 caryophyllus was undoubtedly taken 

 from the clove tree. Caryophyl.us 

 aromaticus, and was applied to the 



carnation because of the clove like 

 fragrance of its blooms. The name 

 carnation, derived from the Latin 

 Carnis, flesh, refers to the flesh col- 

 ored flowers ot the original typt. 

 The carnation has been in cultivation 

 for more than 2.000 years and in early 

 Greek history is mentioned under the 

 name of Gillyflower. As early as the 

 beginning of the IGth century the de- 

 velopment of the carnation began to 

 attract the notice of historians, 

 and the European gardeners con- 

 tributed so many varieties that 

 Girard, in 1587, wrote that to "de- 

 scribe each new variety of carnation 

 were to roll the Sisyphus stone or 

 number the sands." 



The carnation has been divided into 

 several distinct classifications. The 

 French arranged all varieties into 

 three classes, the Giouadines. Fla- 

 mens, and the Fancies. The English 

 divided them into four classes: Self.i, 

 those comprising only one color in 

 the petals; Flakes, those having a pure 

 ground of white or yellow and flaked 

 or striped with one color: Bizarres, 

 those having a pure ground color, but 

 marked with two or three different, 

 colors; and the Picotees, the latter 

 class having a pure white or yellow 

 ground, each petal being bordered 

 with a band of yellow at the margin. 

 The English still maintain this classi- 

 fication, and in the twenty-second an- 

 nual report of the National Carnation 

 and Picotee Society. Southern Sec- 

 tion of England, we find a total of 42 

 classes described in their premium 



\o four classi- 



lists, cm i-riiiu, I In 

 fications. 



In the early part of the 19th cen- 

 tury the Knglish gardeners paid par- 

 ticular attention to growing carn;i- 

 tions, and i)roduced fully as large 

 flowers as any that we have upon 

 the tal)le here today. They practiced 

 what is known among English gar- 

 deners as dressing — removing all im- 

 perfect and superfluous petals with a 

 forceps and arranging the remaining 

 petals in a perfectly formal manner. 

 Frequently the calyx was cut down 

 between the points, to prevent what 

 is known as bursting; that is. the 

 growing out of the petals at one side 

 of the calyx. All of these artificial 

 details seem to have proved of doubt- 

 ful benefit to the carnation, and 

 eventually to have wrought its down- 

 fall, as we find that from about the 

 middle of the 19th century little is 

 heard of the carnation among Eng- 

 lish gardeners, until within compara- 

 tively recent period. 



The type of the carnation, however, 

 that was developed and grown by the 

 English gardeners is not the same 

 type that we grow at the present 

 time, but is distinctly a race of sum- 

 mer flowering carnations. The usual 

 plan of growing them is to keep the 

 plants in cool houses or cold-frames 

 diiring the winter and to bring them 

 into blooming quarters in the early 

 spring. They were usually had in 

 perfection during the months of July 

 and August, each plant producing a 

 profusion of blossoms during this 

 short season. While the English seem 

 to have lost much of their interest in 

 the carnation about 1850, that inter- 

 est seems to have been steadily re- 

 viving during the past tew years. 



Referring again to the annual re- 

 port of the National Carnation and 

 Picotee Society, we find that there 

 are a total of 319 premiums offered 

 in the 42 classes, anu that this so- 

 ciety is supported by a list of 380 

 subscribers who have donated sums 

 ranging from 5 shillings to 50 pounds 

 each toward maintaining its premi- 

 um list, these donations amounting 

 to 317 pounds sterling, or about $l,.5O0. 

 We also find that this report contains 

 as patronesses the names of Lady Ar- 

 dilaun. Baroness Burdett Coutts, the 

 Duchess of Marlborough, and as pat- 

 rons. Lord Balfour, Lord Henry 

 Grosvenor, Lord Rothschild, and 

 Baron Schroeder. and many other 

 prominent people. Among its vice- 

 presidents is found Sir John T. D. 

 Llewellyn, member of Parliament. 

 The mention of these names will give 

 some idea of the present interest 

 shown by the English people in car- 

 nation culture. 



In America we have also the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society, a national 

 body devoted to the improvement ot 

 the divine flower. This society is 

 composed of a membership of upward 

 of three hundred, the majority of 

 whom are either carnation ■enthusi- 

 asts or engaged in the cultivation of 

 the carnation either commercially 0.' 



