74 PROPAGATION 



before, therefore Carnation cuttings then are more subject to 

 suffer if exposed to full sunlight. Whether you can root 

 them without shading or not, the proper way is to apply 

 shade, and if possible arrange it so that this shade can be 

 removed partly or entirely on dark or cloudy days. The 

 sooner all shade is removed when you notice actual root 

 growth the better, for a rooting cutting of any plant re- 

 quiring full sunlight will go back if allowed to remain in a 

 shady position. 



THE MAIN PROPAGATING 



Only by everlastingly keeping up the selection of the 

 very best material for cuttings can we expect to prevent 

 our stock of Carnations, or for that matter any other 

 plants, from running down. No matter how short you 

 may be of a certain sort, never take a cutting from a diseased 

 plant or one that does not just look the way it ought to. 

 Let the sand the cuttings go into be fresh and clean, and 

 the bench itself should be in a clean condition, as well as 

 the house. Never was there a Carnation plant grown for 

 any length of time successfully in a dirty house. 



While one can even root Carnation cuttings up to 

 April, the great majority of growers prefer January and 

 Februar}' as the months to root their main batch. At 

 this time excellent small side shoots of the flowering wood 

 can be had which really do not need to come in contact 

 with a knife in order to get them ready for the sand, and 

 with just a little bottom heat over 95 per cent, will root. 

 Toward the end of January the httle plants are ready for 

 23/^-in. pots. If the young stock is at all taken care of 

 another shift will be necessary by the end of March into 

 3-in. or 33^-in. These early propagated plants are ideal 



