THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



45 



color (Scott is almost the same shade). 

 Then Mr. Simmons, of Geneva, sent 

 out his famous varieties, several of 

 which were a great advance on exist- 

 ing varieties and some of them are 

 standard sorts today. Silver Spray, J. 

 J. Harrison, Portia, Tidal Wave, and 

 greatest of all Daybreak were sent 

 out by him. 



To trace further the subsequent in- 

 troductions would make too long a 

 chapter. It is about ten years since 

 the carnation was taken up and spe- 

 cialized by many of our best horticul- 

 turists with the result that we have 

 attained what ten years ago would 

 have been considered the absolute 

 ideal. But who can tell what Dorner, 

 Hill, May, Nicholson, Fisher, Ward or 

 other enthusiasts will do. Size has 

 been attained almost or quite to the 

 desired point. Jubilee, Pingree and 

 America have a two-foot stem of suf- 

 ficient substance to hold their heads 

 quite erect. 



Fragrance should be an attribute of 

 all varieties. In color we have shades 

 from deep maroon to purest white, and 

 yet perhaps it is in color that the fu- 



ture promises most for the raiser of 

 new varieties. I would say just here 

 that when any good variety does~well 

 with you don't discard it till you are 

 sure you can grow a better variety of 

 the same color. 



There are few plants that accommo- 

 date themselves so readily to a great 

 variety cf soils. Yet from quality of 

 soils, or more likely methods of hand- 

 ling, good gardeners fail with some 

 varieties while entirely successful with 

 others. 



Whether we have reached the limit 

 in the improvement of the divine 

 flower or not is a question that it is 

 not at all essential to worry over be- 

 cause we shall want the disseminator 

 of new varieties always with us. 

 Whether under our continuous winter 

 culture varieties should gradually lack 

 health and vigor is a question that has 

 led to some controversy. We don't 

 "force" carnations by any means, yet 

 to a great extent we reverse the sea- 

 sons, and propagating by cuttings is 

 not raising a new individual as grow- 

 ing from seed. We are merely divid- 



ing and perpetuating the old original 

 plant. And my experience is that after 

 eight or ten years a variety loses its 

 vigor and is a prey to all carnation 

 diseases. And even if it did not it 

 would be superseded by improved va- 

 rieties. 



Propagation. 



In cultural hints the proper place to 

 begin is with the cutting. Let me re- 

 peat that the plants from which you 

 take the cuttings have not been forced. 

 They have been subjected to a lower 

 temperature than that in which it 

 would flower in its native habitat. So 

 the plant is not exhausted, and there 

 is no need of having any plants in a 

 cold-frame to propagate from. No bet- 

 ter material can be had than that 

 from your flowering plants. 



Cuttings root readily from Novem- 

 ber 1st to the middle of April, or even 

 earlier or later, but except for special 

 purposes, such as plants to flower in 

 early summer, which can be propa- 

 gated in November, or in case you are 

 very short of a variety, from January 

 1st to March 1st is the best time to 



