XXVIII.] BORDER CARNATIONS IN AMERICA. 463 



the open, and it would be a loss of time and effort 

 to endeavor to breed adaptive varieties from them. 

 We should begin, as a foundation, with the best 

 existing border varieties, and endeavor to adapt 

 them, by intelligent cultivation, to American condi- 

 tions. And it is from these border carnations, 

 too, that we are to expect the best varieties for pot 

 culture. 



If we fully accept the above propositions, I am 

 sure that we shall find little difficulty in growing bor- 

 der carnations in America. Gardeners of foreign birth 

 often dismiss the hardy carnations by saying that our 

 climate is too hot and dry for them. While there 

 may be much truth in this position, it is also true 

 that many and perhaps all of the border varieties can 

 be grown here with little trouble. Some persons 

 have grown them with satisfaction for years, and 

 visitors to the World's Fair in early August must 

 have noticed a glowing bed of them upon the Wooded 

 Island. In order to determine if these plants can be 

 successfully grown with only ordinary care, such as 

 any person can give, we secured seeds in the spring 

 of 1892 of the following strains : Early Margaret, 

 Self-colored, Early Dwarf, Mixed Vienna, Red Gren- 

 adine, Splendid Rose -leaved, Picotee and some others. 

 These were sown in boxes in the greenhouse on the 

 8th of March, but they might just as well have been 

 sown out-of-doors when the season opened. The 

 plants were set in the field as the season advanced. 

 A few of them bloomed in the fall. They were 

 allowed to grow through the winter wholly unpro- 

 tected, although they grew upon a bald hill -top, and 

 the last winter was severe at Ithaca. They all wintered 



