JVeH' Tlan for double irorkhiff 'Pear Gra/ls. 149 



Rooting the Carnation. 



ED. Western Horticulturist : In the March number of The Horticultur- 

 ist I see the following query : " What is the matter with my Carnation cuttings ? " 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have asked the same question of old florists and gardeners, 

 and have received the same answer, in substance. No trouble in rooting the Carna- 

 tion, they tell me. Just cut off the tops of the young shoots, and put them in the 

 sand of the cutting bench, and a very large per cent of them strike root. I did so, 

 and after they had remained there long enough, they turned yellow and died. At 

 last I made the acquaintance of a gentleman who had retired from the florist's trade, 

 and I asked him if he could tell me how to root the Carnation. Said he, I could 

 show you better than I can tell you, had I a cutting. I brought him a cutting from 

 the nearest greenhouse, and he proceeded as follows : 



Be careful not to have the cutting too soft, nor yet too hard ; there is a medium 

 between the two that is just right. Cut the stalk from an eighth to a quarter of an 

 inch below the joint ; then take hold of the leaves, one at a time, that are nearest the 

 cut, and pull them ofl" — being careful, in doing so, that the bark is removed from the 

 joijit. If the leaf breaks, without removing the bark, take a sharp knife and peel it. 

 It is not necessary that both leaves shall be pulled of. If the cutting is small, it 

 would be better to peel only one side. 



After I received the above information, we put in 2,500 cuttings, and a large per 

 cent of them rooted. The bark of the Carnation is impervious to moisture, and as 

 the roots seldom start, except at the joints, it becomes necessary to remove the out- 

 side cutting. Splitting the cutting through the joint has the same eflfect ; also, cut- 

 ting the stalk diagonally through the joint. If the cutting is small, I think the best 

 way is to peel one side ; if large, either of the above will prove satisfactory. 



Now this is all simple enough to the initiated; but such information as is given by 

 Mr. Cochrane, is throwing darkness rather than light. If " Propagator " has tried 

 the above methods, and failed, I think the failure due to the " peculiar combination 

 in the elements in which his cuttings are placed." 



Northboro, Mass. John F. Johnson. 



New Plan for Double Working Pear GtRapts. — Mr. P. H. Parker of Bas- 

 trop, La., writes to the Southern Farm and Home that he is successfully practicing 

 a new mode for double working such varieties of pears as are difficult to graft on the 

 quince. He takes the reluctant variety, whatever it may be, grafts it on some other 

 pear — the Bartlett for instance — then cuts the latter from its parent tree and grafts 

 that upon the quince. Growth in both cions follows at once, he claims, and he gains 

 at least a year's time by it. He says also that this method improves the habits of 

 some straggling varieties — the Rostiezer for instance — and that the Seckel, double 

 worked on the Bartlett, will grow much faster than when grafted directly on the 

 quince. He has practiced this for twelve years, he says, and now first makes it public. 



