JULY. >..-., 199 



at their junction with the mother plant,) and thinly 

 covered with light rich compost, for if they are 

 deeply buried, they root badly and with difficulty, 

 the access of air being necessary to promote the 

 free production of fibres : the points of the leaves 

 of the layers must be preserved uninjured, and not 

 cut off or shortened, as is the usual practice, or you 

 will deprive the plant of a necessary means of 

 support, the leaves of plants being as essential to 

 their vitality as lungs are to animals. In five or six 

 weeks from the formation of your layers, they will 

 be rooted, and may be removed from their parent 

 stems. 



The Carnation blossoms are now advancing fast 

 to maturity ; those which are double and much in- 

 clined to burst, should have the flower-pods either 

 tied neatly with bass mat, previously wetted, or 

 supported by circular cards, with holes punched in 

 the centres, to fit the pods ; and these should be cut 

 (with a very sharp penknife) through each of their 

 divisions to the base, taking care not to injure the 

 petals. This process permits the flowers to expand 

 evenly, and the cards not only preserve the blossoms 

 in their natural form, but also aid materially in 

 increasing the duration of the bloom. The Carna- 

 tions, if in beds in the open ground, and unprotected 

 by canvass or other substantial covering, should have 

 their blossoms guarded from the sun and rain, by 

 umbrella-shaped pasteboard shades, which may be 

 attached to the stakes supporting the blossoms ; but 

 if this cannot be conveniently done, they should be 

 fixed to pieces of slit, lath, placed in the ground in 

 the most advantageous positions to afford shelter to 

 the blossoms. 



