CARNATIONS, GELASTRUS 309 



with a little soil if possible and throw it out) ; the keeping of a good 

 circulation of air; and the light cultivation of the surface of the soil 

 so it can breathe. 



A hot, dry atmosphere and heating pipes too close to the benches 

 will bring red spider; light salt-water solutions are best for this 

 enemy, or even clear water applied under high pressure. A too 

 damp, cold atmosphere will produce rust. Crippled buds and 

 foliage are caused more by insect pests than by anything else, and 

 here, as with Chrysanthemums, regular spraying with nicotine solu- 

 tions, or fumigating will be found most effective in keeping the plants 

 healthy and clear of insects and diseases. Information about the 

 different troubles and the best known remedies may be found in 

 the several State Experiment Station bulletins, which are easily 

 obtained. But plants which, due to neglect of some sort, really 

 become so sick as to show marked effects, are hardly worth doctoring 

 up and saving; too much valuable time and space are lost in getting 

 them back into shape. Better, and to my mind more sensible, it 

 is to throw all such plants out and give some other crop their place. 



A Carnation plant can stand more cold than heat. While 50 

 deg. at night will suit most varieties best, you can keep them healthier 

 in a 40-deg. house all Winter than in one of 55 deg. or over. They 

 may not flower profitably enough in a 45-deg. house during Mid- 

 winter, but they usually make up for it later on. But give them a too 

 warm house and you soon will notice a weak growth, which is the 

 time when they are subject to diseases of all sorts. The critical 

 time for Carnations is from November until February. During 

 that period avoid keeping the foliage wet over night or the soil too 

 moist, which is as bad (though no worse) , than to allow it to become 

 dust-dry before water is given. To keep it evenly moist with a 

 rather dry atmosphere prevailing in the house, with good ventilation, 

 is the thing, and if you have healthy stock by the first of November 

 there is really no good reason why it should not be kept so by using 

 ordinary precautions; yet even the best of growers fall down some- 

 times, and a lot of plants on one bench will go wrong while another 

 variety in the same house, subjected to the very same treatment 

 flourishes. Such cases are hard to account for. There is a lot we 

 know about Carnations, but far more that we don't know. 



CASTOR BEAN 



See Ricinus 



CELASTRUS SCANDENS (BITTERSWEET) 



You always have use for branches of Bittersweet during Mid- 

 winter when they are covered with their berries or fruit of orange- 



