52 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



doubtless, had many such growing, as he frequently states, " in my garden 

 in Holborn." In this figare the flower appears nearly semi-double, and 

 with petals having teeth like a coarse circular saw. In the course of a few 

 more years, 1G29, Parkinson, in his " Paradisa," calls the Carnation the 

 " queen of delight and of flowers," and describes no less than fifty-two 

 varieties then in cultivation, a proof that they were coming into special 

 favor, and that attempts were, even at that time, directed to improvement. 



He then treats, at some length, on the cultivation of the Carnation, and, 

 indeed, may be regarded as the first English author on the subject. One 

 Taggre, residing in Westminster, was the most ftimons man at that time for 

 Carnations, Pinks, &c. Evelyn's " Gardener's Kalendar," 1664, has good 

 practical directions for their culture, and shows that their management 

 was tolerably well understood by him. John Rea, a professional gardener, 

 who published in the following year a large work, entitled " Flora," has left 

 a catalogue in Avhich be describes 360 good Carnations, a number scarcely 

 exceeded by more modern ones. To follow the history of the Carnation or 

 Picotee through the eighteenth and present century would be almost soper- 

 fluous; we have brougl»t it up to the commencemeTit of the period at which 

 its cultivation, as a Florist's flower, may be fixed, when the blooms were 

 begun to be shaped, if we may so speak, after an ideal model, and when 

 florists had their clubs and meetings to which they brought their seedlings, 

 and, for want of magazines and periodicals devoted to floriculture, imparted 

 the results of their experience over a friendly bowl and under the influence 

 of the sedative pipe. 



The question is often asked by those who are beginning to love the cul- 

 tivation of this favorite flower — What is the difference between a Carna- 

 tion and Picotee ? The Carnation has the marks on its petals from the 

 centre to the edge, in flakes or stripes of colors on a white ground. The 

 Picotae has a white or yellow ground, the edges of the petals being fringed 

 with various shades of red and purple. 



Carnations are divided into five clashes, namely : 1, Scarlet Bizarres; 

 2, Pink or Crimson Bizarres ; 3, Scarlet Flakes ; 4, Rose Flakes ; 5, Purple 

 Flakes. 



Bizarre is derived from the French, meaning " odd or irregular." The 

 flowers in these classes have three colors, which are irregularly placed on 

 each petal. Scarlet Bizarres have that color predominating over the purple 

 or crimson ; but the Pink or Crimson Bizarres have more of these colors 

 than the scarlet. Scarlet Flakes are simple ivhite grounds, with distinct 

 stripes or ribbons of scarlet. Rose and Purple Flakes have these two 

 colors upon a white ground. 



Properties of a good Carnatiopj. — 1. The flower shonld not be less 

 than two and a half inches across. 



2. The guard, or lower petals, not less than six in number, most be 

 broad, thick, and smooth, on the outside ; free from notch, or serrature, on 

 the edge ; and lapping over each other sufficiently to form a circular rose- 

 like flower, the more perfectly round the out-line, the better. 



