XXVIII.] EVOLUTION IN THE CARNATION. 443 



latter appears to be the truth, for many of our ear- 

 nation growers are content if a plant produces two 

 flowers a month for six months, making twelve 

 flowers in all, which is by no means a heavy crop for 

 a border carnation in its second year. It would be 

 equally interesting to inquire if the practice of dis- 

 budding has had any effect upon the length of the 

 stems in modern varieties. The current theories in 

 evolution dispute any hereditary influence following 

 mere mutilations, and would ascribe all progress in 

 this instance to an intelligent selection of chance 

 long -stemmed seedlings. But it is certainly true that 

 the artificial standard which is set by any custom or 

 fashion is eventually reached by the plants them- 

 selves, because the grower constantly selects with 

 reference to it. In this sense, therefore, disbudding 

 is bound to exert a powerful influence upon the char- 

 acter of the forthcoming varieties in the same way 

 that the old practice of "carding" or "dressing," 

 as I showed a year ago (see page 455), has been the 

 means of producing the present flat -bottomed and 

 high -centered flower. 



A permanent non- bursting calyx has been the 

 most difiicult to secure of all the modern requirements 

 of a perfect carnation. The reason for this is the 

 fact that increased size and fullness of flower are 

 opposed to the resisting powers of the calyx. The 

 increase in number and size of petals is the very 

 attribute which causes the calyx to burst, and it is 

 therefore essential that we modify the ideal of the 

 flower quite as much as the style of the calyx if we 

 desire to secure a uniformly non -bursting flower. I 

 am convinced, as I said a year ago, and as Mr. Lons- 



