72 THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



never prune beyond the current season's growth ; if so, the result 

 will be puny and sterile shoots, a prey to insects, and such as will 

 never reward you with a creditable bloom. I ought to mention that 

 in pruning E. mirabilis great caution is necessary, if, indeed, it 

 should be pruned at all ; blooming, as it does, the whole season, it is 

 apt to exhaust itself, producing blooms at the top of nearly every 

 shoot when scarcely an inch in length. 



The tendency should be checked by pinching off a portion of the 

 flowering tops immediately they can be recognized, which is all that 

 can be done in the way of pruning it. 



In those species which never require the knife, the blooms, 

 immediately they begin to fade, should be removed. As they are 

 invariably produced at the points of the shoots, great care is neces- 

 sary that the bud from which the future shoot is to spring is not 

 injured or destroyed in performing the operation. The best appa- 

 ratus is a sharp pair of scissors. If the bud is injured, no bloom is 

 produced the following season. 



CAENATIONS A2?D PICOTEES. 



|N the treatment of these beautiful flowers, the amateur 

 should first decide whether he will grow Carnations and 

 Picotees for exhibition, or be satisfied with the beauty 

 and ornament they will confer on his garden. This 

 advice is founded on the fact that only the very first- 

 rate flowers will be likely to succeed if competition is attempted, 

 while more established and cheaper varieties will answer every 

 purpose if the latter object is contemplated. There are few florists' 

 flowers so precarious as these, and an expensive assortment, in the 

 hands of a tyro, will probably fall a sacrifice to the various mis- 

 chances awaiting them. 



Begin, then, with hardy kinds, and as your experience increases, 

 venture on the more delicate. I say this from having known the 

 disappointment and vexation of taking in hand first-rate pro- 

 ductions of this class. I purchased a set some years ago, and 

 bestowed on them all imaginable pains, following the directions of 

 the best writers on this subject. But I did not succeed. Some 

 never bloomed ; others bloomed badly ; a few bloomed well, but pro- 

 duced no grass, as the young shoots to be used as pipings or layers 

 are technically termed. 



From this bad luck I became more cautious, and although now I 

 should not fear attempting the most tender varieties, the ability has 

 been secured by repeated failures. Nothing is easier than to give 

 lists cf show flowers, and to describe the general routine of culti- 

 vation ; but I think the kinder proceeding is first to indicate the 

 probabilities of success, that time and money may not be thrown 

 away. I believe there is a great deal of imposition sometimes 

 practised by the sale of young carnations imperfectly rooted, and 



