92 Select Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. 
IX—MALMAISON CARNATIONS. 
History of the Race. 
Much mystery hangs round the origin of this 
splendid type of Carnation, and almost every 
writer on the subject asks for information on the 
point, or presumes the probable place of origin. In 
18go a Belgian periodical of good repute stated that 
the original Souvenir de 1a Malmaison Carnation was 
raised about 30 years ago by a gardener in the 
suburbs of Paris, who offered it to M. Dubos, a 
florist at Pierrefite, near St. Denis, who refused it 
because it was defective in some respects. Louis 
Van Houtte, ultimately acquired it from the raiser 
and put it into commerce. This would make the 
date of its origin 1860, cr somewhere about that 
period. 
Another account is given by Mr. R. P. Brother- 
ston in his work “ The Book of the Carnation” as 
follows:—“ There long remained the utmost un- 
certainty accompanied by the vaguest guesses as to 
where and when the original Souvenir de la 
Malmaison with its blush coloured flower criginated. 
It is now clear that it is not nearly so cld a plant 
as some have conceived, it having been Hae from 
seed bv M. Laine, a Frenchman, in 857. Mr. 
David Thomson cultivated the plant at freeroll 
in 1864, having received the stock from Mr. William 
Young, of Edinburgh.” 
As the Empress Josephine lived at Malmaison 
and was very fond of Carnations, it is presumed by 
some that it was raised at Malmaison and named in 
remembrance of the place. Assuming this to be 
correct, the varietv must really be older than the 
above account would indicate. It is certain that the 
Empress did have a fine collection and spared no 
pains in procuring the best tvpes from every and 
any obtainable source, and might have procured this 
one amongst others. On the other hand a Paris 
gardener may have raised it and simply named it 
Souvenir de la Malmaison in remembrance of the 
place which at one time enjoyed such a reputation 
for Carnations. The origin of the variety may have 
