io PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



I was asked by Mr. Smith to distribute the new Carnations 

 raised by him, and they were widely dispersed all over the 

 British Empire. Mr. Smith was also successful in crossing 

 the border Carnations with pollen taken from the Souvenir 

 de la Malmaison type, and he thus obtained quite a new 

 type of Carnation. His eldest son, Mr. Nigel Smith, culti- 

 vated yellow Carnations only, and he was successful in 

 raising Cecilia, one of the most popular of yellow varieties. 

 Both these raisers have passed from us, but their work 

 remains, and hundreds of earnest cultivators are raising 

 improved varieties from the stock so freely distributed by 

 Mr. Smith. 



PERPETUAL-FLOWERING, OR TREE, 

 CARNATION 



The Perpetual-Flowering Carnation originated in the 

 eighteenth century in France ; it is readily distinguished 

 from any other type, owing to its habit of producing side 

 growths freely from the main stem. The central growth 

 produces flowers as in the border Carnation, the side 

 growths in their turn furnishing a succession of blooms ; 

 and, if the plant is potted on into larger flower-pots for two 

 or three years, a very large specimen can thus be obtained, 

 and the term " Tree " Carnation applied to such a plant is 

 not inappropriate. I well remember, when an apprentice in 

 a provincial nursery in Scotland in 1852-53, a consignment 

 of these new Carnations being sent from London. They 

 produced long, lanky growths in the greenhouse, and miser- 

 able-looking flowers. They were planted out and trained 

 to a wall in the summer, growing to a height of 4 or 5 feet, 

 and the stems were very slender. It was about 1865-66 

 that a variety named A. Alegatiere was sent over from 



