CARNATION-BREEDING IN AMERICA. 427 
The tools used are very simple, consisting only of a pair of delicate 
tweezers and a microscopic magnifying glass. I used to employ a fine 
camel’s-hair brush for transferring the pollen, but eventually abandoned 
it, as I found the use of the tweezers less difficult, and speedier work could ° 
be done than with the brushes. 
In hybridising the carnation the first step is to remove all the anthers 
from the mother flower before they develop, and to watch the pistil until 
it is in a proper receptive condition. The anthers of the selected male 
parent are watched until just bursting, and the pollen is in the condition 
of a dry powder. ‘The anther is then removed by means of the tweezers, 
and the pistil of the mother flower is fertilised by lightly touching it 
along its entire length with the pollen-bearing anther.. Conception 
generally takes place within twenty-four hours after this operation pro- 
vided the conditions are favourable. 
In order to pursue my colour studies with reasonable method I have 
divided the work into the following sections : 
“1. Fancy section, comprising all varieties peculiarly marked, of various 
colours. 
2. Purple and blue section, comprising all purple flowers and any 
which may show a tendency towards blue in colour. 
3. Crimson and maroon section, comprising all shades of crimson, 
maroon or scarlet-maroon. 
4, Scarlet section, comprising all shades of red and scarlet. 
5. Light pink section, including all shades of salmon, flesh or day- 
break tints. 
6. Dark pink section, including all rose, cherry and deep pink tones. 
7. White section. 
8. Yellow-variegated section, including all varieties having a yellow 
ground with scarlet, crimson or pink markings. I have not as yet been 
able to establish a pure yellow section, for even though the seedling plant 
may give pure yellow flowers for a time, as soon as propagation is carried 
on to any extent, more or less of variegation appears. 
9. White-variegated section, comprising all varieties with white 
grounds marked with various colours. 
10. Pink-variegated section, comprising all varieties having a pink 
ground of any shade with markings in deeper colours. 
In the purple and blue section I have not as yet succeeded in pro- 
ducing anything that might be termed a blue; for, although we have had 
several varieties showing a distinct blue shade, there has invariably been 
enough pink in it to convert the tone into a purple or a mauve. The 
crimson, dark and light pink, scarlet, and white sections have been fairly 
well fixed; but the yellow, white and pink variegated, and blue sections 
will be very difficult to fix, as they are essentially mosaics, and there is a 
constant tendency towards variation in all their progeny. 
In order to render the study of pedigrees easier, I have devised a 
system of “bench-cards ’ * which are used as labels tied to each variety 
under experiment, and which at the end of the season are filed away in a 
card index, thus preserving all of the original records made in my work. 
I find this system exceptionally useful, as Iam able to determine at a 
* For specimens of these see p. 430. 
