CARNATIONS UNDER GLASS. 81 



feasts. When a plant feels the tread of pollen-shod feet'of insects 

 on the dias of its petals, it swoons to coma with the delirium of 

 rounded life; its end is attained, its destiny fulfilled. 



It is not strange that carnations should exploit their best 

 floral efforts for the only object for which they live under the elec- 

 tric stimulus of intensified sunbeams. House for growing car- 

 nations through the summer under glass should be contrived for 

 the greatest possible ventilation. Light is the conjuror of better 

 blooms, not heat. The side and central ventilators should remain 

 constantly open until the outside temperature falls below 40 de- 

 grees at night. Plants for indoor culture are struck about the 

 same time as for the common system of culture and carried thrift- 

 ily forward in pots, until about the first of July, in cold frames, 

 when they are transplanted on the beds, or benches in the house. 

 All growers now bench their field carnations from one to two 

 months earlier than they did ten years ago. 



Growing carnations under glass is a matter of market. If a 

 grower can realize more money for a less number of high grade 

 flowers than he can for a greater number of moderate quality, he 

 should experiment with the glass system. There are some vari- 

 eties of the carnation family that are better adapted for growing 

 under glass than others, but the practice has not yet developed 

 the catalogue. Jubilee, Triumph, J. Dean are mentioned, while 

 Buttercup is specifically regarded as undergoing a palingenesia 

 by the thaumaturgy of summer glass. 



