CARNATIONS 307 



SUMMER CULTURE AFIELD AND INDOORS 



To the man with limited space during April and May, planting 

 his Carnations in the field will always appeal; for with houses full 

 of bedding stock there is but little room for the Carnations. Plant- 

 ing them out in the field will permit of cleaning out the houses and 

 repairing the benches. The plants themselves are out of the way for 

 ten weeks or so while the busy season is on, which is better for them ; 

 the few weeks in the open help to keep them healthy. However, 

 those who have sufficient space and can get a bench ready for plant- 

 ing by early May and have well-established 3J/2- or 4-in. plants, 

 might just as well bench them for it will result in still earlier, long- 

 stemmed flowers. 



BENCHES AND SOLID BED CULTURE 



Carnations can be grown to perfection in benches holding from 

 5 to 6 in. of soil, and are mostly grown that way today. Yet there 

 are successful growers who plant them on solid beds and even prefer 

 this method. In this case the plants, when through flowering after 

 Memorial Day, are removed and the beds get a dose of lime, a layer 

 of manure, are spaded over and replanted with young stock. There 

 are some growers who have successfully used the soil left in the 

 benches the second year, but it stands to reason that after you have 

 had the plants growing in the benches for about ten months, with 

 almost a daily watering it cannot be as good as fresh soil, which has 

 never been used in benches. For those who can make use of the 

 old soil, but who don't find it too hard to obtain fresh soil, the 

 latter course is advisable. 



LATE BENCHING 



There are occasions when another crop occupies a bench that 

 is, later on, to be filled with Carnations. Rather than leave the 

 plants out in the field until October or November, a better way is to 

 pot them up, say about the middle of August, carry them along in a 

 frame or house, and plant them out when the space is ready for them. 

 A plant potted in a 5-in. pot, in good soil, with proper drainage and 

 taken care of, will keep on forming new roots, and will, when planted 

 out later on, go right ahead. Good Carnations during February 

 and later pay as well as at any other time; if specially wanted during 

 this period the plants can be benched or planted on a solid bed to 

 follow Chrysanthemums. 



FOR OUTDOOR FLOWERING 



There isn't a florist who sells bedding stock during the Spring 

 months who cannot dispose of a good number of Carnations for 

 Summer and Fall flowering. There are seasons when, after the hous- 

 ing is completed, the surplus of Carnations left in the field and al- 



