80 INCONSPICUOUS PEOPS FOE PINKS, CARNATIONS, ETC. 



and that the strongest and healthiest seedling, being left in the pot. As it advances, 

 all flower buds and all side shoots must be removed, but none of the leaves upon the 

 main stem, which must be supported by a stick. As the pot becomes filled with 

 roots, the plants should be repotted into one of larger size, in good sandy loam. 

 The height to which the stem may be trained is entirely a matter of taste ; from 

 eighteen inches to two feet is a common size, and when this is attained, the top 

 must be pinched off, which will cause the production of a ' head ' of laterals, which 

 are in their turn to be ' stopped ' at their extremities, when two or three inches long. 

 The result will be a compact bushy head, upon a straight unbranched stem ; and if 

 the plant has been duly watered and attended to during the summer, it will produce 

 an abundant crop of flowers through the winter. It is essential that, through the 

 whole of its earlier stages up to the moment when the head is formed, that all 

 blossoms should be removed ; and in no case ought the seed to be allowed to ripen 

 after the plant is permitted to flower, or its death will probably result. 



INCONSPICUOUS PKOPS FOR PINKS, CARNATIONS, ETC. 



A Coeeespondent of the Gardeners' Chronicle, with a view to remedy the absurdity 

 of having props as conspicuous as, or more so than, the plants which they support, has 

 employed well painted, straightened wires of various lengths and thicknesses. For 

 Pinks, he uses 24-inch lengths of No 11 wire, which, with two coats of green 

 paint, are almost invisible, and they have proved perfectly firm and efficient as 

 supports. For Carnations, he recommends 36-inch lengths of No. 6 wire (about , 8 6 of 

 an inch thick) ; but wire of this weight would soon become loose in the ground, and 

 they are therefore fixed into tapering wooden shods or sockets, about 1 inch thick 

 at the upper end, and 7 inches long. These were drilled throughout their length so 

 as tightly to fit the wires, the ends of which were passed through them, and 

 projected about an inch beyond the small ends, which were thus pointed. The 

 sockets were then dipped in boiling tar, and when this had hardened, the wires 

 received two coats of green paint. The firmness and efficiency of the props is most 

 satisfactory, and equally so is their non-appearance. With an annual coat of paint 

 they will last for years, and their first cost is trifling. ' Wires made quite straight 

 by a wire-worker cost me 4d. per lb, which, for small sizes, comes very cheap 

 per 100. The wooden sockets were made for me by a bobbin turner, at 2s. 8d. per 

 gross. When painting the wires I put a spoonful of paint into a woollen cloth laid 

 in the hollow of the left hand, and drew them through it — a plau I find as good, and 

 much more expeditious, than using a brush.' We hardly need add that props of any 

 size may be made on the above principle, and will possess an immense superiority 

 over those usually employed, as regards neatness of appearance. 



