PINKS AND CARNATIONS. 115 



manure it well, and dig it, breaking it fine, and mix 

 the manure thoroughly with the soil ; and just here I 

 would say that there is no manure which suits Pinks 

 and Carnations so well as horse droppings from the 

 roads, swept up with some sand. Put the manure on 

 pretty thick : six barrowfuls to one perch, or about thirty 

 square yards, is not too much. It will take about six 

 square perches of ground to hold 2,000 plants, includ- 

 ing the paths, &c., at ten inches apart. The ground 

 should be manured and dug in the month of March, 

 then it will get well pulverised, and when a nice shower 

 of rain comes about the end of April, it will be in first- 

 class order for the young plants. Strike the ground 

 out into four-feet beds, work over the surface with a 

 hoe, and then rake it over with a coarse rake, and put 

 out the plants with a trowel, letting them down into 

 the soil quite up to the leaves ; and when a bed is 

 planted, give it a good soaking with water to settle the 

 soil well to the plants. 



As the plants advance in growth, nip out every young 

 shoot to induce a bushy habit ; and when September 

 comes they will be, or should be, large and fine plants, 

 of the size of a cheese plate, compact and full of young 

 stuff that will give flowering stems ; but none of these 

 must be allowed to remain on the plants that spring up 

 from them while in the beds ; if any do come, nip them 

 off at once as soon as they appear. 



About the end of September the plants may be 

 carefully lifted with a large trowel, having a good ball 

 of earth to each plant. To make sure of doing this 

 properly, before taking them up give each bed a heavy 

 soaking with water the previous evening. As each one 

 is lifted, place it in a plant-barrow direct, and when it 



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