122 ON LAYING CARNATIONS. 



pot. The compost they were grown in consisted of one half of 

 good loam and equal parts of leaf mould and rotten dung well 

 mixed up together. 



To the experienced Floriculturist the above practice may 

 not be new, but to many readers of the Cabinet, it may claim 

 an interest, and as such I send it for insertion in your widely ex- 

 tended and useful publication. 



Esher Place, Mmj, 1838. W. Wheatley. 



ARTICLE II. 

 ON LAYING CARNATIONS. 



BV POMONA. 



As the season for laying Carnations is fast approaching, if you 

 think it worth your while to publish in the Cabinet the plan I 

 adopt for that purpose, it is at your service. Laying in many 

 cases are indispensible for the continuation of the sorts, for 

 if a plant sends up but only one stem without any side shoot for 

 laying and be allowed to blow, it will likely die. If this happen 

 to valuable kinds, the flower bud should be nipt off, so as to 

 cause the plant to branch. 



It is said by an eminent florist that common gardeners are 

 great bunglers in laying, and that there is not one in ten whose 

 assistance he would accept in a case of emergency, that he would 

 rather trust to an amateur, a cobler, a weaver, or a barber, who 

 had any sort of practice with their own flowers ; but how far this 

 statement is correct I will leave it to others to judge for them- 

 selves. 



The best time to lay Carnations, is when the plants are in full 

 bloom, which generally happens about the middle or towards the 

 end of July or the beginning of August, according as the season 

 is more or less forward ; whenever this mode was adopted I have 

 invariably found that they were more certain of striking than at 

 any other season of the year. 



Persons who are particularly desirous of preserving the blooms, 

 in the greatest perfection, defer laying till the flowers decline, 

 the blooms being considerably impaired by the operation, more 

 especially if the weather is dry and at an early period of bloom- 

 ing. The advantages which is derived from early laying is to 



