CHAPTER II 



Development of the Carnation 



From what has been said in the preceding chapter, it 

 will be understood that our present-day commercial Carna- 

 tions, which are grown by milHons all over this country 

 and in many other countries of the world, are a development 

 of one particular member of the Dianthus family. More 

 than this, they are derived from a special strain or section 

 of Dianthus Caryophyllus. This plant has been cultivated 

 possibly for well over 2000 years, for the scholars tell us 

 that the earliest historical allusions to this dainty and 

 precious flower occur as long ago as the period before the 

 coming of Christ. That statement is more impressive of 

 the antiquity of this much prized plant than any other that 

 could be made. 



The American Carnation came from a French strain 

 over 70 years ago. Yet Carnations had split up into other 

 strains before then, these being developed according to the 

 tastes and ideals of the florists in the several countries where 

 they were found. The English and Germans had (and still 

 have) their Border Carnations, the varieties of which are 

 sub-divided or classified into selfs, Picotees, bizarres, 

 fancies and flakes. It is to these forms of the Carnation 

 that the National Carnation & Picotee Society of England 

 devotes itself. Since the year 1900, however, interest in the 

 American strain of Carnation has eclipsed the interest in 



