THE TREE CARNATION 49 



The better way is to take off the side growths 

 from the main stem and plant them in small flower- 

 pots in sandy soil. This should be done in January 

 to obtain plants that will begin to flower in September 

 and continue through October. Later cuttings or 

 slips will produce a succession of flowers until the 

 Malmaisons are plentiful in May and June, and during 

 July and August the border Carnations are in full 

 beauty. The cuttings or slips taken off in January 

 must be put in any house heated to a temperature 

 of fifty-five degrees. A gentle bottom heat of eighty 

 degrees to eighty-five degrees should be provided, and 

 plunge the pots to the rim in decayed cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse or leaf-mould, and keep them near the glass. 

 If a propagating frame is not available, a square or 

 two of glass placed over the pots in which the cuttings 

 are and resting on the labels will do very well. I 

 have propagated hundreds in this way, and seldom 

 lost a cutting. 



As soon as the roots are well formed the pots 

 should be removed from the bottom heat and placed 

 in an airy part of the house for a week or ten days, 

 when each plant may be potted off separately into 

 thumb pots or small sixty size. They soon begin to 

 grow freely, and require re-potting again in six or eight 

 weeks, and by the end of May they are ready to be 

 placed outdoors in an open position, or in a very wet 

 season keep them under glass, giving an abundance 

 of light and air. The glass is only required to protect 

 the plants from drenching rains. Carnations one year 



old will flower well in pots five inches or six inches 



D 



