Laced and Border Pinks. 189 
showy and double flowers. Seeds sown early in 
March in a minimum night temperature of 60° will 
germinate in eight or ten days. The seed pans or 
boxes should be placed on a shelf close to the glass 
as soon as the seedlings are well through the soil. 
When they have made a pair of rough leaves they 
may be transplanted into other boxes or into a cold 
frame in which a bed of sandy loam and leaf soil 
has been prepared for them. After they have taken 
to the fresh soil, ventilation must be given on all 
favourable occasions to maintain a sturdy habit. 
About the end of May or beginning of June, plant 
out the seealings in beds, borders. or piece of ground 
that has been prepared for their reception, about 
I2in. apart each way. During the first year the 
plants will simply make tufts of leafy shoots, and 
flower in June the following year. By this time the 
plants will have made good patches of grass, and 
give a remarkable profusion of flowers. 
LAYERING.— The proper time for this operation is 
in June just as the plants are passing out of flower. 
Where a moderate number ot plants only are re- 
quired this method will answer the purpose 
admirably, because relatively strong plants can be 
secured in a short time, and will make stronger 
specimens in a given time than cuttings. The 
strongest shoots only should be layered, and even 
of these a large number may be laid down round the 
margin of large stools. 
Get ready a quantity of soil, leaf mould, and sand, 
as for Carnations, and scoop out some of the soil 
round the plants to be layered, filling the cavities 
so made with some of the prepared compost. Re- 
move some of the lower leaves from the shoots and 
make a careful cut up the middle of the stem from 
one node to another to form a tongue, as in Carna- 
tions when being layered. Peg down the layers, 
cover them with soil, and water the stools to settle 
the soil. when rooted they may be severed from 
the parent plant and planted out in nursery lines to 
form roots and make some growth till the final 
planting time in September or October 
CUTTINGS.—These may be taken at the same 
time as the plants are layered ; and as Pinks produce 
such a dense cushion of shoots it is impossible to 
layer more than a small proportion of them. If a 
large quantity of plants of any particular variety 1s 
required they can be obtained by taking all the best 
