8 Select Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. 
Before Thomas Hogg, the florist of Paddington 
Green, Middlesex, published his “ Treatise on the 
Growth and Culture of the Carnation” and other 
florists’ flowers, the Carnation, in the Flake and 
Bizarre classes, had reached its present day state of 
perfection, judging by a coloured plate of a Bizarre 
Carnation (see illustration p. 7) and the description in 
his book. Indeed, we have even earlier evidence of 
it in Franklin’s Tartar, a scarlet Bizarre Carnation, 
raised by Mr. Franklin, of Lambeth Marsh, and 
figured in the Botanical Magazine, ii. t. 39. This 
plate was published in 1788, and showed a bloom 
fully 3in. in diameter, with numerous scarlet and a 
few maroon flakes. 
Hogg’s classes of show Carnations were Flakes, 
Bizarres and Picotees. His Bizarres had three 
distinct shades of colour (including the white 
ground); Flakes two; and the Picotee was still the 
“spotted Carnation” of Gerard’s time. The 
Yellow Picotee (see illustration p. g), honoured 
with a coloured plate, was striped in a variety of 
ways with two or three colours on a bright yellow 
ground and deeply indented or fringed on the edges. 
It was what we should now describe as a yellow 
ground fancy Carnation. His definition of a fine 
flower were :— 
Brightness and distinctness of colours, form of 
the petals, clear white ground colour, every petal 
striped according to its class, unburst calyx, and not 
less than 3in. in diameter. The petals should 
neither be too numerous so as to burst the calyx, nor 
too few; they must be largest round the outside 
with the inner ones smaller and rising above one 
another in the centre lke tiles on a roof and not 
fringed at the margin. The flower stalk had to be 
strong, straight and elastic to support the blossoms. 
A flower possessed of all the regulations laid down 
by the societies, he said, was seldom or never met 
with. It may here be remarked that the stems of 
his Carnations varied from 2$ft. to 5ft. in height, but 
the latter were probably exceptional. 
The growers of Hogg’s day were much troubled 
by the “running” of the flowers, and scarlet 
Bizarres of high colours weré apparently more prone 
to it than other types. That is a malady which has 
existed from Parkinson’s time, at least, to the 
present day. The scarlet Bizarre frequently changed 
into a self-coloured flower like the Clove. It may 
