XXVIII.] JOHN THORPE'S IDEAL CARNATION. 451 



within eight years we shall be able to grow carnation 

 flowers four inches in diameter, and to sell them for 

 one dollar each. The full text of his prophecy, or 

 of the requirements for what he calls his model 

 flower, are as follows :* 



"First. The flower is to be not less than four 

 inches in diameter. The petals must be thick and 

 regularly disposed. The color, any color. It must 

 have a decidedly sweet perfume. 



" Second. The calyx to be not less than half the 

 diameter of the flower ; it must be sufficiently large 

 so as not to burst during the period of the petals 

 emerging from it. 



The stem must be in proportion to the size of 

 the flower, and long enough to be cut not less than 

 eighteen inches long. The lower end of the stem not 

 thinner than an ordinary lead pencil. The stem to 

 be clothed with leaves, as are the best varieties 

 to-day, excepting that the lower leaves are to be 

 eight inches long, one -half inch wide, covered with 

 a glaucous surface, which only carnations have. The 

 leaves to be curved in that lovely way already 

 possessed by the Divine flower. 



"Such flowers will sell for one dollar each." 



This vivid portrayal piques our curiosity as to 

 the probability of such a consummation, and florists 

 are alert to discover and record every new approach 

 towards this ideal. Blooms nearly three inches in 

 diameter have been recorded within the past few 

 months. Everyone appears to agree that the carnation 

 is rapidly improving in all desirable features. Mr. C. 

 J. Pennock writes as follows in Annals of Horticulture: 



♦Am. Flor, vj, 338 (Jan. 8, 1891). 



