THE CARNATION IN POTS 27 



Miss Ellen Terry, very large white ; Lady Nina Balfour, 

 blush ; while Duchess of Fife is usually grown on account 

 of its lovely pink-tinted flowers. The above are self flowers. 

 Of fancies, mostly yellow grounds, Amphion, Lord 

 Justice, Hidalgo, Charles Martel, Falca, Eldorado, Paladin, 

 Ormonde, Brodick, Ualgetty, a white ground ; Galileo 

 Goldylock, Guinevere, and Duchess of Roxburghe, form a 

 reliable selection. At one time I cultivated the above 

 class of Carnations solely in six-inch pots, one plant in 

 each. The newer sorts, however, grow more vigorously 

 than old varieties, as, for example, is the case with 

 Cecilia, and for single plants seven-inch pots are most 

 generally employed, while, for larger and more im- 

 posing specimens, two are grown in eight-inch and 

 three plants in eight- or nine-inch pots. Starting with 

 the well-rooted layer, which should be ready to transfer 

 to pots during the first ten days in September, the 

 stronger growing sorts, e.g. Cecilia, Barras, Hildegardc, 

 and Loveliness, will require pots five inches in diameter, 

 while those of the type of Hidalgo, and Mephisto will 

 succeed better in those four inches in diameter. The 

 pots, as in every instance, must be efficiently drained, 

 nothing being better for this purpose than potsherds, broken 

 into very fine pieces, to be placed above a flat potsherd 

 laid over the hole for drainage. The soil may be 

 good fibrous loam with a third of leaf-mould, and one- 

 sixth of sand added, and in potting be careful not to 

 lower the stem of the plant, while the soil must be made 

 moderately firm. Strong plants should be steadied by means 

 of a short stick placed to each, and instead of standing the 

 pots in the open air, I greatly prefer to place them at once 

 in a position where they can be protected from heavy 

 rains, and consequently treated as to water at root in the 

 most careful manner. The plants must, indeed, be supplied 

 with water in quantity only sufficient to keep them in a 

 healthy condition without stimulating growth, while during 



