Il8 CARNATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



varieties grown are similar. The cuttings are inserted 

 closely in sand, early in the new year, usually as soon as 

 the Christmas and New Year's demand is over. The 

 young plants are potted into 2 in., and grown on. Some 

 growers plant them in the field for lifting later in the 

 year, to be transferred to the benches. Others keep them 

 in pots until the benches or solid beds are ready and then 

 plant in the usual way. Enchantress, White Enchantress, 

 Victory, Harlowarden, Dorothy Gordon and the newer 

 variegated Benora, are popular kinds. 



A year or two ago considerable trouble was caused to 

 indoor growers by an insect that did great damage. It is a 

 winged insect like a small moth, that flies by night and lays 

 its eggs in the forming buds, causing them to wilt and die 

 off" instead of developing. One grower lost the entire cut 

 of 25,000 plants two years ago from this pest, but has 

 now got it well under control and loses but few. The heat 

 by day is seldom so great in Southern California as in other 

 parts of the country, while the nights are always cool and 

 pleasant. For this reason the time of cutting good stock is 

 longer and in fact may be said to cover the entire year 

 if ordinary care is used. But as usual, when natural con- 

 ditions are good, slipshod methods arise, and while there 

 are many exceptions, it cannot be denied that the general 

 upkeep of Carnation houses here is not so good as in less 

 favored climates, and it is rare to find a place w^here every- 

 thing is kept up to the highest pitch of perfection or the 

 best results attained that could be. 



The cloth houses are simply constructed afl"airs, with 

 dwarf wooden walls and a framework of battens or i in. 

 by 3 in. spars, and over this the cloth is nailed. Some 

 growers omit the cloth during the growing season, covering 

 in September or October for a Winter crop. Others keep 



