98 CARNATION SUPPORTS 



timely pinching, it would be a good thing, but you cannot, 

 and instead of keeping on pinching, stop it after August 30, 

 and only resort to it when you notice short stems forming 

 buds. Get rid of such and let the strength required to 

 develop these buds into flowers, which are of but very httle 

 value to you, go toward bringing forth new shoots which 

 will later grow into strong, heavy stems. 



SUPPORTS 



Supports for the plants will now also be in order. 

 They might not need it right away, but it will not be long 

 before they do, and it is so much easier to put up wires 

 and twine or whatever you are in the habit of using, when 

 you can get around the plants easily, than later on. 



In our grandfathers' time all the flower buds on 

 Carnation plants were allowed to bloom. Even long after 

 the Carnation was grown entirely as a greenhouse plant 

 this old custom of not pinching the buds still remained. 

 Naturally the blooms were small and the plants short and 

 bushy. Soon after the Carnation was brought under 

 greenhouse cultivation, it became evident that some sort 

 of a support would be beneficial — it would hold the plants 

 apart from each other and thus give them more hght and 

 air. By the use of a support, a longer and straighter stem 

 would be developed and the plants w^ould be up out of the 

 way so that the soil could be worked more easily. 



For want of something better, the florists in some 

 instances took twigs of trees and stuck them in the soil 

 next to the plants. By tying the plants to these, finer 

 results were obtained, but the growers were in search of a 

 better method of holding up their stock. This search 

 has been progressing ever since and one method after 



