April 7, 1906 



HORTICULTURE. 



455 



THE CARNATION. 



Head by A. H. Seekers before the Morris 

 County Gardeners' and Florists' Club. 



The carnation, as it is today, has 

 proved itself a public necessity, and 

 as such should be handled and treated 

 accordingly. That it has rapidly 

 gained in popularity, and is the equal, 

 or shall I say the more successful 

 rival, of its fair competitor the rose, 

 is due largely to the fact of its keep- 

 ing qualities, fragrance and adaptabil- 

 ity, for it is found first in the expen- 

 sive social function and foremost in 

 the workingman's home. 



The carnation as I remember it ten 

 years ago, to the present day produc- 

 tion has made rapid strides ahead, and 

 although Mr. Ward may claim a 1000 

 years for each added inch, the last one 

 seems to have appeared in considera- 

 bly less time. 



What a contrast we find between 

 Portia and Robt. Craig or Victory, 

 Daybreak and Enchantress, Lizzie Mc- 

 Gowan and Lady Bountiful or Queen! 

 Yet even these old favorites are not 

 to be despised, for they had in them 

 the blood with which the hybridizers 

 have been enabled to produce the pres- 

 ent day wonders. 



In looking over an exhibition of new 

 carnations and noting the difference 

 between the various kinds, I have 

 often thought that growers will one 

 day be grading the carnation, as the 

 rose, into fancy, first, standard and 

 common classes. In the fancy class 

 we have a type of flower which can be 

 truly likened to the racehorse, and as 

 surely as we strive after a higher 

 ideal, and try to improve on the exist- 

 ing improvements, so will the treat- 

 ment of same require to be given ac- 

 cordingly. 



But as the majority of us are deal- 

 ing with present day varieties, and not 

 with what is to follow, perhaps a few 

 remarks about those grown and 

 proved successful may not be amiss. 

 It is easy to select those kinds which 

 meet with popular approval among 

 the growers, not because of their color 

 or fragrance, but because the grow- 

 er is able to adapt himself readily to 

 the requirements of his stock. If this 

 is not so how is it that one variety 

 does so well with one and shows up so 

 poorly with another? Is it climatic 

 conditions or treatment that brings 

 Cardinal to the fancy class in Canada, 

 while in our own neighborhood it is 

 almost useless? Yet I fail to find one 

 man who is complaining of Enchant- 

 ress or Lawson. The same can be 

 said of Prosperity, in the first class, 

 and although now beginning to age, I 

 do not doubt but what this variety can 

 be brought to pay for its keep. Hav- 

 ing had to do with a house of this 

 kind the present season. I must say 

 that results are more than satisfac- 

 tory, and believe that with early 

 propagated cuttings and grown from 

 then until benching, in July, in pots, 

 success may be had. I find, too. that 

 it is a little of the racehorse type, a 

 trifle stubborn, and needs the "jolly- 

 ing" which a little extra heat may 

 give it to bring it along. Wherever 

 the plants are handicapped for want 

 of heat, there we find the less flowers. 

 This defect can be plainly seen in the 

 house just mentioned, where one end 



is always four degrees warmer than 

 the other, besides being subject to 

 drafts when going in and out, the 

 house being apart from the others, 

 causing the plants to be backward all 

 winter, whilst at the warmer end no 

 trouble is had to produce fancy flow- 

 ers, long stems and clean foliage. 



Enchantress and its sports, the vari- 

 ous Lawsons, Roosevelt, Queen and 

 Harlowarden are all varieties which 

 can be depended upon to produce good 

 marketable flowers, and if handled 

 right, can be brought to a successful 

 paying investment. The question of 

 soil is a serious one for the majority 

 of growers, and very often consider- 

 able outlay is necessary for the pro- 

 curing of the right kind. What is the 

 right kind? Each grower seems to 

 have his own ideas about that. One 

 successful man, located near Buffalo, 

 with an area of 20,000 feet of glass, 

 has used the same soil continually for 

 the past seven years, mixed, of course, 

 with manures and fertilizers. With dis- 

 carded rose soil, thoroughly mix this 

 outside with lime, bonemal or cow 

 manure, proportionately, I venture to 

 say that no bother would be had to 

 produce good flowers, providing good 

 care and treatment was given same. 



In the matter of planting, the differ- 

 • ent varieties in the benches have done 

 best with nine inches between the 

 row, and seven inches apart in the 

 row. This applies, of course, to me- 

 dium-sized plants, and to those which 

 grow compact, and most of them can 

 be made to do so by the usual method 

 of wire and string support. In plant- 

 ing these distances apart, careful 

 watch will have to be kept for red 

 spider, and to the beginner in carna- 

 tion growing I would advise planting 

 little further apart each way. 



During the growing season care 

 should be exercised in feeding, as 

 some varieties require considerable 

 more than others, and if overdone — 

 well, it simply can't be undone. I 

 would recommend the frequent appli- 

 cation of pure bonemeal, as it can be 

 handled far more easily and is cleaner 

 than manure. The one advantage I 

 find this method has over manurial 

 waterings is because each plant gets 

 its own share and can absorb the 

 nourishment at leisure, whilst a heavy 

 douche given at least once a week 

 with manure water, besides occasional 

 clear waterings between times, has a 

 tendency to keep a good many plants 

 too wet, as I have yet to find the 

 greenhouse so situated that all the 

 plants are ready for water at the same 

 time. Consequently, if you are soak- 

 ing the plants that are wet with your 

 weekly feed, the result is soon appar- 

 ent, as the benches will be empty. I 

 would not in any way despise top 

 dressing of cow or other manures, and 

 consider it a decided advantage in 

 giving a change of diet; but, as soon 

 as the manure goes on the bench, your 

 troubles commence with weeds, mites, 

 sour soil and worms, and. incidentally, 

 I might mention stem rot. 



The past season has been a very 

 poor one in regard to propagation, 

 owing, no doubt, to the long spells of 

 cloudy weather making the ground 

 soft. But not all the blame can be 

 laid to that alone, as in a matter of so 

 much importance the question of ex- 

 perienced help arises, and this part of 

 the work should be undertaken by an 

 efficient man. During the last few 

 years it has been (perhaps. I might 



say i my misfortune to have to deal 

 with green help, and whilst I have 

 learned something, the knowledge has 

 been derived after losses which could 

 have been avoided. When the opera- 

 tion of trimming the cuttings com- 

 mences, take the time to give careful 

 instructions to the uninitiated — yes, 

 and to some of the so-called "expe- 

 rienced" — not to destroy the outer 

 skin or bark at the base of slip, thus 

 exposing to the water and air the soft 

 pith, which has no power to withstand 

 the elements and, consequently, after 

 four or five days will have rotted. 



In putting same in the sand, too, the 

 same care should be given to see 

 that the bottom of each cutting rests 

 firmly on the sand, for unless these 

 two, the bottom of cutting and the 

 sand, come directly in contact with 

 each other the capillary action is un- 

 able to commence its work, and as the 

 action, which is all on the side of the 

 cutting, is not a magnet to draw the 

 moisture up, the result is apparent in 

 a dry cutting. 



The split carnation is a topic to 

 which one might perhaps be able to 

 devote an entire paper. I might say 

 the two greatest causes are too sud- 

 den changes in temperature and the 

 lack of sunshine. The first can be 

 avoided by constant attention to ven- 

 tilators and boilers, so that in cold, 

 bright days of midwinter, when the 

 fires are low, care should be taken to 

 have pipes hot enough to let tempera- 

 ture drop easy, as the sun departs. 

 The latter cause can be helped some- 

 what by giving all the air possible, 

 consistent, of course, with common 

 sense, so that the plants may become 

 strong, also in the selection of stock 

 for propagating, to select only the 

 strongest and best cuttings, as this 

 trouble of splitting is, I believe, hered- 

 itary; and whilst some varieties will 

 split, however good you treat them, 

 we can keep down the percentage if 

 we handle them correctly. 



The everyday varieties, I find, do 

 best in a night temperature of 54 de- 

 grees, and in the day, 68 or 70 degrees, 

 when the sun shines. On cloudy days, 

 air is given when the thermometer 

 reaches 60 degrees, according as the 

 weather is boisterous or calm. 



The cutting and packing of the car- 

 nation for the market is work that 

 should be done by experienced help, 

 as upon this depends the success of 

 your enterprise. Try and arrange, if 

 possible, to have all flowers in water 

 ai least twelve hours before shipping, 

 and keep them in a cool place; and 

 now that the warm days are approach- 

 ing, our flowers will be in a better 

 salable condition and last longer when 

 the customer purchases them if we 

 can find it convenient to cut them first 

 thing every morning, when they have 

 recuperated during the night. 



We all know that stock shipped in 

 is not handled with the best of care by 

 the express agents, so exercise judg- 

 ment in packing the same firmly in 

 strong, clean boxes, so that when jolt- 

 ed backwards and forwards the neck 

 of each flower will not be broken, as I 

 have seen many treated that way. 

 This will save you lots of unnecessary 

 worry and arguing with your agent, 

 and will enable him to secure better 

 pi ices, and in time your reputation will 

 become established as a first-class 

 grower, and by attending to even the 

 smallest detail, sooner or later suc- 

 i ess will be vours. 



