150 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



giving more room to root. Carnations, after 'having been rooted, 

 should be planted in light, loamy soil, well manured not too much 

 water, as they become rusty. The first flower stems which appear 

 should be nipped off. This makes the plants more stocky. If you let 

 them run up and bloom the result will be tall, spindling plants and 

 they will not produce as many or as good flowers as when headed. 



Carnation Seedlings. Carnations from hybridized seed give good 

 plants and if one buys the highest priced seed he is apt to get the 

 produce of good selected plants, which makes the progeny far more 

 interesting and desirable. Unless one is operating in a green house 

 carnation seed seems to start best from February sowing, if the air 

 is moist and warm, than earlier sowing. If the seed is sown in June 

 in pots or boxes, fine, strong plants can be had by autumn and they 

 will flower all through the next season. 



The late F. A. Miller was a pioneer florist of .San Francisco and 

 a fond grower of seedling carnations. His advice to amateurs was as 

 follows: "Most of the seed sold is not hybridized artificially, and in 

 this case no great results can be obtained from that source. Carefully 

 hybridized seed is too expensive to be retailed, and can only be bought 

 by the 100 or 1000 seeds. Any one who has a collection of good car- 

 nations can readily produce seed, by proper hybridization, which will 

 give excellent results in the production of new varieties, and, further- 

 more, it is one of the most fascinating pastimes any one can engage in. 

 Looking at your flowers, you will find some showing the pistils very 

 prominently; these are the pistillate or female parents. Then we find 

 others flowers which show the stamens very conspicuously; these 

 furnish the pollen with which the pistillate flowers are fertilized. 

 The pollen will readily adhere to a fine, soft brush and is then applied 

 to the pistillate parent of any other flower. If this operation is per- 

 formed between flowers of a most contrasting color quite a variety 

 may be obtained, and if the operation is performed between flowers 

 of the same color, superior varieties of that color may be obtained." 



More specific directions in the same line were given by Mr. C. J. 

 Haettel, who grew carnations at Redondo Beach: "From 7 to 9 

 o'clock a. m., according to the amount of moisture in the air, the 

 flowers will be ready to pick for the purpose of extracting the pollen, 

 which should then be dry. I use a clean plate to receive it. The 

 easiest way to extract it from the flowers is to turn the petals back 

 and, with a sharp pair of scissors, cut the stamens off. After all is 

 gathered, cover the plate with a clean pane of glass, and turn it over 

 occasionally, as some moisture will collect on the glass. Under or- 

 dinary circumstances, the pollen will be ready to put away early in 

 the afternoon. It is then put through a fine sieve and allowed to fall 

 gently upon a clean sheet of paper, from which it is transferred to a 



