CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 69 



serious loss from frost if the soil is well drained. In wet 

 soil some sharp road or other grit may be sprinkled 

 round the plants to prevent damp affecting the collar. 

 Dry cold will not kill the plants. 



Pinks do not produce tufted side-growths so freely as 

 Carnations, and are often propagated by division, or by 

 pulling young shoots out of their sockets early in summer 

 and inserting them as cuttings in sandy soil. These 

 shoots are called pipings. The strong-growing Pinks 

 which produce vigorous side-shoots may be layered like 

 Carnations. They are often used as marginal plants for 

 beds and borders. As they will grow in almost any soil 

 if rabbits are wired out of the garden, and bloom most 

 profusely, they are invaluable plants to the amateur. A 

 line of Pinks makes a neat and pleasing margin to a bed 

 or border, besides yielding a large quantity of sweet and 

 pretty flowers. 



Maggot. Sometimes a blistered spot, with a brownish 

 track running from it, is seen on a leaf. If so, the leaf 

 should be sliced down at once with the point of a knife 

 and a pair of small maggots searched for with the aid of 

 a lens. If the attack is not observed, the maggots, un- 

 checked by the grower, will work their way down to 

 the stems, and whole shoots may become sickly and 

 drop out. 



There are several beautiful plants grown in gardens 

 as Pinks of different kinds, such as the Indian Pink 

 (Dianthus chinensis), the Japanese Pink (Dianthus Hed- 

 dewigii), the Cheddar Pink (Dianthus c<zsius\ the Maiden 

 Pink (Dianthus deltoides), and the Mule Pink, of which 

 there are several hybrids, Napoleon III. being one of the 

 best. 



The Indian and Japanese Pinks are generally treated 

 as annuals. With the seed sown in winter or spring 



