212 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



stems so tightly to the stake that the natural flow of the sap is 

 arrested. 



If especially large flowers are desired only one or at most two 

 buds should be allowed to develop, but where a larger number 

 of smaller blooms is required thinning out may be done sparingly. 

 It will help the plants greatly at this stage if they are top-dressed 

 with a thin mulch of short manure. This should be covered with 

 a layer of rich leaf mould. The effect will be not only to give 

 the plant a stimulating food, but also to maintain the roots in a 

 suitably moist condition. 



One of the chief drawbacks of many varieties of the carnation 

 is the frequency with which the calyx splits, and thus disfigures 

 the flower. Diagram 24 suggests some methods of coping with 

 this drawback when it occurs. Small and misshapen carnations 

 may have the calyx removed as in Figure 4. Three blooms thus 

 treated can be placed together and fastened round tightly with a 

 small india-rubber band. If the florets be neatly intermixed it 

 is possible to produce the simulation of a fair-sized bloom, as in 

 Figure 6. Figures 1 and 2 show the method of using the 

 carnation collar for show purposes. 



The carnation, like the chrysanthemum, requires the constant 

 attention of the cultivator all the year round. It cannot, like 

 many other perennials, be left to its own devices in the border to 

 increase and multiply at will. It needs to be renewed annually, 

 and this can be done in two ways, either from seed or by means 

 of the process known as layering. 



The months of May and June are the time to adopt the first 

 plan ; the other and more common method should be postponed 

 until the best of the flowers are over, towards the end of July or 

 early in August. The propagation of carnations from seed 

 possesses both advantages and disadvantages. These arise from 

 the fact that one can never be sure that the resulting plant will be 

 true to type. There may, however, be some surprises in store 

 for the grower, and he may secure from his little seed-box a gem 

 which he will cherish as the apple of his eye. It is this element of 

 surprise which makes the growing of carnations from seed so 



