Field Culture of Carnations 



to a quarter of an inch below the surface of the soil. Too many planters 

 carelessly push the plant down into the soil until the neck is from three- 

 quarters to an inch below the surface. This careless method should not be 

 tolerated by a careful grower, as deep planting of this character has a ten- 

 dency to check the growth of the plants and to cause them to rot off at the 

 neck, especially if planting is followed by an extended period of cold, w^et 

 weather. If a small number of plants is to be set, it is a comparatively easy 

 matter to plant them at the proper time, without much planning ahead. But 

 where thousands are to be planted, and the number of hands is limited, the 

 work must be well planned, and carried forward with method and rapidity, 

 in order to get the stock into the field at the proper season. 



Previous to turning the young plants out of the pots, they should be 

 given a thorough watering, so that the balls of soil will be well moistened 

 throughout ; but these should not be in a muddy condition. If the plants 

 are set with the balls in a muddy condition, they will dry out hard, and be- 

 come brick-like, and, to a certain extent, impervious to moisture. I have 

 seen plants dug from the field in the fall, where the balls of soil were so 

 hard that the roots were actually choked, and had made comparatively little 

 growth ; whereas, if the soil had been of the proper degree of moisture, and 

 the balls slightly broken up before planting, this condition would not have 

 occurred, and the plants would have made normal growth. 



As the plants are turned out of the pots they should be placed in flats, 

 each variety by itself, with a label in every flat, in order to prevent mixing 

 the varieties when dropping the plants. As this work is sometimes done 

 previous to the time of planting, these flats should be set in a cool shed, out of 

 draughts, where the plants will not wilt, and where the soil will not be dried 

 out ; and the plants should not be carried into the field much faster than it 

 is possible to set them. If it should be necessary to carry any number of 

 plants into the field at one time, they should be placed under shade, or cov- 

 ered with a light cloth of some kind, in order to protect them from the wind 

 and sun ; a large sheet made of plant-protecting cloth being very useful for 

 this purpose. 



In preparing the field for horse culture, after the ground has been thor- 

 oughly pulverized, and is in a proper mellow condition, a horse marker, 

 set so as to make drills thirty inches apart and five to six inches deep, is used 

 to mark off the ground. The fertilizer, if chemical fertilizers are to be 

 used, is then sown with a machine, which thoroughly mixes the fertilizer 

 with the soil in the drill, and immediately covered in by a coverer, which 

 throws the soil into the drill and raises a ridge about six inches high. 



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