70 PICTORIAL PRACTICAL CARNATION GROWING. 
case of thin, dry soil it should be done in the evening, the mulching 
being drawn off for the purpose, and afterwards replaced. 
Rabbits are fond of Carnations, and in country districts often 
cause considerable trouble. Wire netting, and a shot gun in the 
early morning and evening hours, baffle them. When young rabbits 
establish themselves in a garden where there is a good deal of cover 
they are not easy either to trap or shoot, being very watchful and 
elusive ; but with patience and observation they can be laid low. 
They have their favourite times and places of feeding. They gener- 
ally come forth in the stillness of early evening, and at dawn. The 
writer has overcome many a quick and cunning “ bolter” by carefully 
noting his preference as to hour and place, and then making a 
stealthy barefoot approach in the ‘wee sma’ hours,” or in the 
gloaming. 
There are various other enemies, such as insects and fungi, to be 
kept down, but these we shall consider separately. 
Staking will need timely attention. Much may be done with 
Bamboo stakes and green Raffiatape. They are neat and incon- 
spicuous. Tight tying must be avoided, or the flower stem will not 
spindle up freely. Looping, rather than tying, should be practised. 
Many growers prefer special wire stakes. Porter’s is good. An. 
excellent stake is made by Mr. R. Sydenham, Tenby Street, 
Birmingham ; and Mr. C. E. West, of Higham Hill, the inventor of 
Raffiatape, supplies a useful Carnation stake, in common with 
a great many other valuable appliances for the garden, A twiggy 
piece of Hazel, well trimmed in, makes a capital support for a clump 
or big seedling. In some cases, where the plants are grown in long 
rows, strained wires are resorted to. 
Disbudding next demands attention. Plants that are grown from 
seed, like Canterbury Bells, to give a profusion of bloom in the 
garden, need not be disbudded. They will give huge masses of 
pretty flowers, quite suitable for giving a bold effect in a border, and 
for cutting. Where, however, fine individual flowers are wanted, to 
exhibit, for example, disbudding is indispensable. The beginner may 
expect his plant to throw up a single flower stem plant, crowned 
with one fine bloom, but this is not Nature’s way. She believes in 
profusion to secure her ends. The stem will not only show several 
buds near the summit, in addition to the central or crown bud, but 
also, probably, throw out subsidiary flowering growths. This trait is 
well portrayed in Q, Fig. 29, and in X, Fig. 30, which have been care- 
fully drawn from life. If the lower flowering stems are left on they 
very seriously tax the strength of the plant, and the main stem 
suffers in consequence. The lower buds on the main flowering stem 
should also be picked out immediately they can be got hold of, and the 
upper buds thinned to three, namely, the crown bud of the leading 
shoot, and the third and fourth, counting from the top, below it. A 
reference to Y and Z, p. 69, will make the point quite clear. 
