114 BEECH'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



evaporated from the leaves, cover them up with a hand glass, 

 which must be forced a little depth into the ground so as to 

 keep out the air. This need hardly be removed until the 

 plants have taken root; they must be shaded, however, the 

 first fourteen days, with mats over the glasses, when the sun is 

 very hot. If properly managed, not one in twenty will miss, 

 and between one and two hundred may be planted under one 

 glass ; in a month or six weeks they will be sufficiently rooted 

 to move. Carnations are sometimes raised from pipings, but 

 they are not so sure as Pinks to take root. This variety is 

 often called the Paisley Pink, on account of its having been 

 raised in the highest perfection among the weavers near Pais- 

 ley, in England. A good Pink should have a strong, elastic, 

 and erect stem, not less than one foot high. The petals should 

 be large and broad, with very fine-fringed edges, the nearer 

 rose-leaved the better. The ground-work of the flower should 

 be pure white, or rose-colored, with a dark, rich crimson, or 

 purple eye, resembling velvet; if nearly black, so much the 

 richer. A delicate margin, or lacing, round the entire petal, 

 if the color of the eye, increases its beauty. The flower should 

 be from two to two and a half inches in diameter. 



Dianthus Chinensis. China Pink. This species is a bien- 

 nial of great beauty, but without fragrance ; of dwarf habits. 

 The foliage is of a yellowish green. It flowers from seed the 

 first year ; it is perfectly hardy, and flowers strong the second 

 year. The colors are exceedingly rich ; crimson, and dark 

 shades of that color approaching to black, are often combined 

 in the same flower, with edgings of white, pink, or other col- 

 ors. Seed, saved from double flowers, will produce a great 

 portion of double varieties. In beds where there may be a hun- 

 dred plants, scarcely two will be found alike. They are in 

 flower a number of months. 



Dianthus barbatus, Sweet William, is an old inhab- 

 itant of the flower-garden, and was much esteemed in Ger- 

 varde's time, " for its beauty to deck up the bosoms of the beau- 

 tiful, and garlands and crowns for pleasure." It is an imperfect 



