48 CARNATIONS AND PINKS 



satisfied with the border varieties. Some have an 

 idea that this section is composed of tender plants 

 requiring a greenhouse, but this is an error ; they are 

 quite as hardy as any other group. Good flowers, 

 however, cannot be produced in quantity in winter 

 unless the plants are in a warm atmosphere. They are 

 easy to manage if kept growing, but this is exactly 

 what many forget to do. You go into a garden and 

 ask to see the Carnations. After some search they are 

 found scattered amongst the greenhouse plants, a 

 third of the soil has been washed out of the pots 

 by careless watering, green-fly is infesting them, and 

 they are suffering from an absence of light and air. 

 No good flowers can be obtained in this way. I have 

 proved that with twenty -four well -grown plants it 

 is possible to have Carnation flowers all the year 

 round, but to do so the following instructions must be 

 observed. Suppose we begin in January with either 

 seeds or cuttings ; some grow both, but I find that 

 seedlings are the more easily managed, while there is 

 always a chance of a choice variety occurring better 

 than anything in existence hitherto. 



Propagation 



The usual way of propagating border Carnations 

 is by layers, and perpetual-flowering varieties may 

 be increased by this means ; but the growth of the 

 plant does not lend itself well to this method. If the 

 growths were principally near the surface of the soil 

 they could be layered as easily as the border varieties. 



