102 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



or take a small piece of bass matting and tie it round the 

 flower bud, this will preserve a good symmetry in their ap- 

 pearance ; at the same time, water the plants freely in the 

 pots while the buds are swelling, and during the time the 

 flowers are expanded. The Carnation is divided into three 

 classes : the bizzair has a white ground with stripes or 

 spots of two colors ; flakes also have a white ground, with 

 a stripe of one color running through the petal ; the 

 picotee, or pencilled, have a white or yellow ground; 

 the edges of the petals are beautifully pencilled with pur- 

 ple, crimson, or red, and considered by many the] most 

 enchanting. The character of the Carnation may be 

 summed up in a few words : the stem should be from 

 thirty to forty-five inches high, the foot-stalk of the flower 

 elastic and strong, the flower not less than three inches in 

 diameter, well formed, the petals not too crowded nor too 

 thin, the calyx strong, one inch in length, keeping the 

 base circular, rising half an inch above the calyx ; the 

 outer petals should be long and broad, rising perpendicular 

 half an inch above the calyx, then reflex gracefully just 

 enough to support or make sufficient room for the inner 

 petals, giving the whole flower a convex, nearly forming a 

 half globe. The outer petals, of course, should be the 

 largest, and without notches or fringed. The picotee, in 

 this respect, is an exception to this rule. The most proper, 

 tionate colors in each petal, and free from spots, the bettor 

 the flower. Pink, scarlet, and purple are the most prevail- 

 ing colors in the Carnation ; pink and scarlet are often 

 blended in the same flower, but the scarlet and purple 

 very seldom. When the plant is troubled with the green 

 fly, it should be syringed with soap suds, or take a camel's 



