86 Select Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. 
in view. Hap-hazard cross-breeding entails a deal 
of wasted time and labour as all the seedlings must 
be grown to the flowering stage to learn whether 
they are worth retaining for another year’s trial. 
In both cases they have to be bloomed in pots under 
glass, with the same care as is accorded to the best 
named varieties. The intended seed bearer should 
be selected for its bushy habit, vigorous constitu- 
tion, free and continuous blooming qualities. | The 
pollen bearer should also be selected, as far as 
possible, with these qualities to recommend it, but 
above all should it be chosen for some desirable 
colour the operator wishes to combine in the 
progeny. Artificial pollination may be effected in 
precisely the same way as with border Carnations, 
and the seed should hkewise be ripened off under 
glass. 
Having obtained the seed it should be sown in 
seed pans or pots of hght sandy soil, well drained. 
If the seed pans are plunged in a bottom of heat of 
60° to 70°, the seedlings will soon make _ their 
appearance, and to prevent them from getting drawn 
they must be placed on a shelf near the glass where 
a temperature of 50° to 55° is maintained. When 
the first pair of rough leaves are formed the seed- 
lings should be carefully lifted and dibbled into 
boxes of moderate depth, well drained and filled with 
a light compost of loam, leaf soil and sand. If 
planted 2in. apart each way they will be sturdy little 
plants fit to put outside in May or June, if pre- 
viously well hardened off ui cold frames. 
A bed or piece of ground should be prepared for 
their reception during the winter months. Rake the 
ground level and plant out the seedlings in lines 
about I2in. apart each way. Provided the season 
is of average warmth the seedlings will have made 
bushy specimens before the end of summer. Some- 
time in the last fortnight of September they should 
be potted up and housed in a hght airy structure 
with a temperature suitable for this class in winter, 
and most of them will bloom in time to permit of 
cuttings being taken from the most meritorious for 
further trial. Their behaviour when raised from 
cuttings may be different from that of seedlings, and 
this has to be well tested before their value is known. 
First Potting of Rooted Cuttings. 
As soon as the cuttings are rooted pot them off 
