188 Select Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. 
pure white ground, a dark centre, and a lacing of 
pink, red, dark red or maroon, extending round the 
margin of each petal, just within the edge and 
agreeing with or conforming to the centre in colour. 
Needless to say, the flower should be symmetrical, 
as large as possible, and the lacing well defined. The 
flower should be quite double, but not too crowded 
with petals, the edge smootn and the calyx not lable 
to burst, though this is seldom a fault of the florists’ 
Pink. 
THE BORDER PINK is not hedged about by the 
severe canons of the florist, and may be of any de- 
cided colour that is intrinsically beautiful and effec- 
tive. White, in a variety of forms, has always been 
popular; white flowers, witn a dark centre, or dark 
in the centre witn a border of some paler hue, are 
also admisible ; and pink, rose, purple, and red selfs 
afford pleasing variation. 
PERPETUAL FLOWERING PINKS.—The distin- 
guishing feature of this section is the continuous 
flowering character of the varieties. | Remontant 
would, perhaps, be a better term to apply in the 
same sense as the French apply it to Hybrid Per- 
petual Roses. The varieties come into bloom in 
May or June, but generally go to rest for a time 
after the latter month, especially if the weather is 
hot and dry and the soil sandy. Towards autumn, 
when the days become cooler and moister, the plants 
recommence growth and flower freely a second time. 
They are therefore very useful as border plants or 
for cut flowers. 
Propagation. 
The Pink is propagated by seed, pipings or cut- 
tings, layers or division. The latter is a simple 
method sometimes resorted to by amateurs or even 
professional gardeners, especially when relaying 
edgings of Pinks. The plants are lifted, the ground 
manured and dug, and then the Pinks are pulled 
into sufficiently small pieces to make a narrow 
edging when laid in the trench. The long stems are 
either shortened or laid in a trench their full length, 
* covered with soil and trodden firm. 
SEED SOWING.—This method of propagation 1s 
that by which new and improved varieties are ob- 
tained. Seedlings are also raised for ordinary 
garden decoration; and if a good strain of seed is 
obtained there will be a good percentage of useful, 
