THE CARNATION. 39 



out the heat when the houses are neglected and are 

 not opened. 



WATERING AND VENTILATING. 



Most carnations thrive best in a temperature at 

 night of about fifty degrees, and although they will give 

 quicker results at sixty degrees, the blooms will be small 

 and the plants will be quickly exhausted, so that in the 

 course of the season the number of the flowers will not 

 be half as great as in the cooler house. On the other 

 hand, when kept at forty or forty-five degrees the plants 

 will flower later, but as few will be produced during the 

 winter, they will be able to give quite a crop as the 

 warm weather of spring comes on, at which time, how- 

 ever, there is less call for them and the prices rule much 

 lower than during the winter. During the day the tem- 

 perature will be determined largely by that of the air 

 outside and the amount of sunshine, but in a clear day 

 it can run up to sixty-five or seventy-five degrees with 

 advantage, provided the air is on the houses. It will 

 probably be well to hold down to those temperatures, if 

 it can be done by ventilating the houses and not secure 

 too much of a draft of cold air. Air should be given at 

 fifty-five or sixty degrees, and this is high enough for 

 the day temperature in dull weather. 



Until the plants have become established, they will 

 take but little water from the soil, and, after the firs-t 

 wetting down of the bed, care should be taken not to 

 add more until examination shows that it has become 

 slightly dry, when another watering should be given, 

 sufficient to wet down through the soil. This will be a 

 good rule to follow throughout the year. After the 

 plants are established, during the hot weather of Sep- 

 tember and October, and during the spring, careful 

 watching is often necessary to prevent the suffering of 

 the plants from lack of water, as, particularly when 



