168 AMERICAN CARNATION CULTURE. 



cepted, viz: Crimson, scarlet, pink, white, yellow, white-varie- 

 gated and yellow-variegated. 



Out of this list of colors select those you prefer and send your 

 order for the same to a reliable carnation-growing florist. 



I will give you later on the name of the varieties of each 

 of the foregoing classes, which I deem best adapted for growing 

 at home by amateurs. 



After you receive your plants, say about the first of May, 

 plant them out in any ordinary garden soil, from twelve to fifteen 

 inches apart, each way. They will be rooted cuttings from four 

 to six inches long and will be comparatively hardy. Keep them 

 well cultivated through the entire season and neatly staked. 



These rooted plants to bloom early, say by the ist or 15th 

 of June; the cuttings must have been taken from the parent 

 plants early» say October or November of the previous fall. 



Carnation growers always have such on hand for growing 

 flowers for their own wants early, out of doors. 



Now, after you have invested in the first purchase of plants, 

 you doubtless would like to know how to continue your stock 

 without the expense of repeating your purchase and ivith the inter- 

 est of being your own propagator. 



In October take cuttings off your growing plants. Side 

 shoots are better than the main stem — slips from three to four 

 inches long. Use a sharp knife, then stick them in clean sand, 

 filled in a box three or four inches deep, set the box under the 

 shade of a tree or on the north side of the house, water them well 

 and frequently, and from fifty to seventy-five per cent of your 

 cuttings will root. Florists, with more favorable conditions, ex- 

 pect to strike from ninety to one hundred per cent of their cut- 

 tings. 



Another mode of continuing your stock is by layering. Take 

 a stem of the number that will stool up from the crown of your 

 plant, slit it about half off, bend it to the earth, peg it down with a 

 twig or stick, and cover over the incised part with moist earth, 

 and it will take root. This plan was at first pursued in this 

 country, and is largely continued in Europe. It is called layer- 



