450 THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE. [xXVIII. 



a pure or stable stock, he learns how to handle it 

 to the best advantage, and he is able to con- 

 stantly augment the merits obtained in preceding 

 years ; his work is cumulative. It is effort of this 

 kind which has made so many European horticul- 

 turists so eminently successful in their various lines, 

 as Lemoine, Benary, Crozy, Bennett, Paul and others. 

 There is already one example in this country of this 

 persistent effort upon a good foundation applied to 

 the breeding of carnations, as any one knows who 

 is familiar with the work of Fred Dorner. 



It seems to me to be important, therefore, that 

 the whole field of carnation culture should be en- 

 couraged in America, rather than to confine our 

 attention to a single type of the family. It should 

 be remembered that the perpetual or bench carna- 

 tions are of recent origin, and are therefore not yet 

 perfect. Varieties do not wear out, but they pass out 

 of sight because of disease, improper methods of 

 propagation and handling, by variation, the appear- 

 ance of better kinds and the careless mixing of stock. 

 Good results in originating new varieties will come, 

 as a rule, only from persistent effort extended over a 

 series of years and founded upon a strong and uni- 

 form stock. 



n. 



John Thorpe'' s Ideal Carnation .^ 



Great interest has been awakened in carnation 

 cultivation by John Thorpe's bold prophecy that 



I Read before the First Annual Meeting of the American Carnation Society 

 at Bufifalo, New Yor'k, February 16, 1892. Printed in First Annual Report 

 of the Society, 58 to 65. 



