Show Carnations and Picoteées. 57 
had been blown about by the wind, and their petals 
disordered. On the other hand flowers may be 
overdressed, or unskilfully manipulated, thereby 
injuring or bruising the petals with the instruments 
used. Dressing must be done with a firm and 
steady hand, yet with a delicacy of touch to avoid 
tearing, splitting, or notching the petals while 
placing them in position by means of the tweezers. 
The Dressing Instruments need not be numerous. 
A pair of steel tweezers will be necessary for turning 
back the teeth of the calyx, and for pulling out 
narrow and deformed petals as well as self-coloured 
ones. A pair of smooth ivory tweezers are indispens- 
able for grasping the petals while carefully placing 
them in position. Dust and pollen may be removed 
from the petals by means of a camel’s-hair brush. 
_ Two sizes of cards or collars are necessary for the 
proper dressing of exhibition blooms. The larger 
size should have a circular hole punched in the 
middle, sufficiently large to pass over without 
squeezing the calyx, and on this the petals should be 
arranged. The smaller cards should be punched in 
the centre, star-fashion, so that when pushed over 
the calyx, the rays or points of the star will be 
pushed outwards and thus catch on the base of the 
calyx and serve to keep the larger cards close up to 
the petals. A substitute for this might be found in 
a wire twisted into a ring at the top, while the free 
end may be tied to the stem of the flower, somewhat 
similar to the wire supports for Chrysanthemums, 
but smaller. 
Exhibition Boxes——For the sake of uniformity the 
boxes on which Carnations are to be staged should 
be uniform in size and as nearly so in colour as 
possible. The surface on which the flowers are to be 
displayed should be neatly planed and painted a 
light green, though the rest of the box may be darker 
if so desired. 
The size of a box for 12 blooms, as stipulated by 
the National Carnation and Picotee Society, should 
be 15?in. outside measurement; width 12in.; and 
depth. 4?in. Each box should have three rows of 
four blooms each; and the holes to réceive the tubes 
should be 3#in. from centre to centre; and from the 
centres to the edge of the box, 2}in. Boxes for half 
a dozen blooms should be exactly half the size of 
