536 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



covering the beds with old tan or other dry litter, which must be removed as 

 soon as the spring shoots appear. It should be borne in mind that the ranun- 

 culus, as soon as it has started, will not bear drought. In dry seasons liquid 

 manure is indispensable; but care must be taken not to injure thefohage 

 in putting it on. Many persons have found the ranunculus hard to cultivate ; 

 but if the requisite conditions of autumn-planting be attended to, there can 

 be little difficulty in securing an abundant crop of these gay spring 

 flowers. The cultivation of the anemone is so similar to the ranunculus that 

 it would only be repetition to give it here. 



i6'j2. Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. — All layers of these much-admired 

 flowers should be well rooted by October, so that they may be removed from 

 their parent stocks and transplanted either into pots or into beds previously 

 prepared for them. This flower is the cultivated Diantlms Caryopliylhis, found 

 wild in many parts of England, although it is supposed to have reached this 

 country in its cultivated state from Italy or Germany. Gerarde, writing in 

 1597, makes mention of it as received from Poland ; and it is a remarkable 

 instance of the effects of cultivation, for the named varieties of flakes, bizarres, 

 picotees, — pink, purple, scarlet, and crimson, bear scarcely any resemblance to 

 the original. They are propagated by seeds, which, however, do not ripen well 

 with us, and are obtained chiefly from South Germany ; hj 2n2nngs, by cuttings, 

 and by layers. The seed should be sown in May in pots, in soil similar to 

 that recommended for its flowering, placing the pots in an airy, sheltered 

 part of the garden. When the plants are up, and show five or six leaves, 

 plant them out in beds in the same rich soil, and 10 inches or so asunder ;. 

 protecting them during winter in a cold frame, or by means of matting. 

 Many of them will bloom the following summer. 



1673. ^y layers, — the propagating season being July and August. Having, 

 selected the shoot to be layered, and prepared pegs for pegging them down, 

 and soil for their reception, add a little grey sand where the layers are 

 to be placed. Prepare the shoot by trimming off" all the leaves with a sharp 

 knife, except five or six at the top ; then with a thin-bladed knife make an 

 incision half through the shoot, with an upward cut, beginning below a joint, 

 and passing through it for an inch or so ; bend the layer down into the 

 sandy soil prepared for it, pegging it down in that situation in such a manner 

 as to keep the sht or tongue open, and cover it over with rich light compost. 

 Two days afterwards, when the wound is healed, a gentle watering will bs' 

 beneficial. 



1674. Cuttings are made by taking ofi" shoots which cannot be conveniently 

 layered, cutting them right through a joint with an oblique angular cut, and 

 planting them in pots or beds prepared with mixed compost and sand. 



1675. Piling consists in drawing out the young shoots from the joints, 

 and inserting it into a light sandy soil, when it takes root, — a process more 

 generally applicable to pinks than carnations. 



1676. In preparing compost for carnations, take two-thirds good stapre- 

 loamy soil, the turfy top-spit in preference ; add to this one-third of thoroughly^ 



