460 THE SURVIVAL OP THE UNLIKE. [XXVIII. 



1850, carnation cultivation received a new impetus in 

 England from the formation of the Carnation Society. 

 Yet interest appears to have fallen off quickly, for 

 Nicholson writes in 1884* that ' ' these charming 

 flowers were, at one time, universal favorites, and the 

 varieties were far more numerous than now. * * 

 For some unaccountable reason, after 1850, they were 

 seriously neglected, and many of the old varieties 

 were entirely lost to cultivation ; they are now, how- 

 ever, regaining popular favor." And now the 

 American Carnation Society is bringing the flower into 

 popular notice in this country, and we are already 

 beginning to regain some of the features which have 

 been lost or which have escaped notice. How far we 

 shall regain the large carnations of other days, or how 

 much we shall add to them, depends much upon how 

 assiduously we breed the species, and how long Me 

 persist. If in two or three years this Society loses its 

 ardor, we need not look for John Thorpe's flower. 



But how shall we obtain the four -inch flower ? It 

 is well known that size is largely determined by the 

 food supply, both by means of enriching the soil, and 

 by disbudding by which we lessen the number of 

 flowers to be fed. The inference, then, is plain : 

 Select that variety which most nearly approaches the 

 standard, and by high cultivation and very close prun- 

 ing force it into great size. This requires extra la])or 

 and means less flowers to the square foot. In other 

 words, it means an extra cost, but it is no doubt the 

 only way in which we can hope to secure certain and 

 uniform results, inasmuch as there is little in the 

 history of the carnation to show that such enormous 



♦Diet. Gard. i. 269. 



