388 PICTORIAL PRACTICAL CARNATION GROWING. 
plan which is adopted at Hayes by Mr. Martin Smith. He refuses 
to coddle his plants. The seedlings, raised from a February sowing 
and grown on, are planted out in May and pass the winter in an 
open field, and there they flower and are selected the following 
summer. 
It may be asked if the plants could not be flowered the same 
year as sown. ‘The reply is that a winter or early spring sowing 
could not be relied upon to give flowering plants before the second 
year unless the plants were pushed forward in heat; and this, 
while quite feasible in places where warm structures are at com- 
mand, cannot be recommended, because it tends to make what 
should be a hardy plant tender. 
Sowing out of doors in May or June is a practicable system, 
and can be recommended. Plants from sowings made much later 
than this would hardly be strong enough to stand the winter, 
especially in stiff, wet land. 
Seedling Carnations grown from mixed seed, sown with such 
things as Wallflowers or Sweet Williams in May and June, are 
generally very floriferous. They make large, bushy plants, which 
bloom profusely. A large proportion of the flowers is double if 
the seed is from a good strain, but there will be a certain per- 
centage of single and semi-double blooms. These are of no use 
for special propagation, but will come in useful for cutting. 
In sowing under glass either pots or boxes may be used, but in 
both cases a compost of loam, leaf mould, and sand in equal parts 
will suit. Make it firm, and have it moist but not saturated. Set 
the seeds in singly, as then all danger of overcrowding will be 
RAISING FROM SEED. FIG. 16 (NEXT PAGE).—PRICKING 
OFF UNDER GLASS. 
Q, potting off singly into a 23-inch pot: f, drainage; g, thin layer of moss 
h, soil; i, space for holding water; 7, seedling, carefully lifted when 
the second or true leaves are showing. 
R, pricking off into a 3-inch pot: /, drainage; /, soil; m, seedlings, placed 
round the side at about 15 inches apart. 
S, pricking off into a 6-inch pot: ,\crocks, 0, cinders ; p, rougher parts of 
compost ; g, soil; 7, seedlings, about 13 inches apart. 
T, pricking off into a pan: s, drainage; ¢, rougher parts of compost; w, soil ; 
v, seedlings, about 14 inches apart. 
U, pricking oft into a box: w, bottom, with holes and a crock over each; 
x, drainage ; y, soil; z, seedlings, placed about 14 inches apart. 
V, pricking off ina frame: a, bed of ashes on which the frame is placed ; 
6, ashes or ballast to make the plants an even distance from the glass ; 
c, layer of rough compost; d, soil; e, plants placed 3 inches apart; 
J, height of ashes or other protective material placed against the sides 
and ends when the seedlings are wintered in a frame. 
