158 AMERICAN CARNATION CtJLTURE. 



The Wisconsin College of Agriculture has experimented on 

 watering plants with water at 32 degrees and 75 degrees Fahr. and 

 finds no perceptible difference in the effect on the plants, whether 

 they were in or out of doors. 



The statement is made with some assurance that out of 4720 

 kinds of flowers in Europe only 420 have pleasant odors. Per- 

 fume differs with different persons, and fragrance was not originat- 

 ed to please the olfactories of man as much as this sense in insects. 



The perpetual type of carnation differs from its parental 

 border species b}^ continually remounting itself with flowers in 

 response to the stiuudi of artificial heat, but will not produce 

 more flowers during eight months of its flowering period than its 

 ancestors did, and does, in six or eight weeks. The carnation 

 merely trails glory through a longer duration and through a 

 period of the year in which flowers are more appreciated. 



Sterilizing the soil on greenhouse benches is now claiming 

 considerable attention. The Massachusetts Experiment Station 

 has devised a system of pipes under the benches through which 

 steam can be turned and a heat of 200 degrees quickly obtained 

 in the soil. It is claimed that highly heated soil produces better 

 crops, converts elements in the soil into plant food, besides destroy- 

 ing latent eggs, worms, pupus, spores and germs of the nematodes. 



There are many instances when benched carnations need an 

 antidote for pests when cloud\- damp weather w^ould forbid its 

 application in liquid form. "Hammond's Slug Shot" can be used 

 as a dry powder, and spread over plants with a dry duster or blower, 

 and is found effective. This composite powder can also be ap- 

 plied in liquid form, through a sprayer or pump. It is obtained 

 from seedmen throughout the States, put up in perforated screw- 

 top canisters for convenient and immediate use. 



