THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



49 



enth of the well rotted stable manure 

 into the soil. The horse manure is 

 much preferable to that from the cow 

 stable. The bone should be of the best 

 quality and very finely ground. What 

 we know as bone meal is often too 

 coarse and it does not dissolve in 

 time for the plants to have received 

 the full benefit of it, so we get the 

 bone flour. A 5-inch pot of bone flour 

 to an ordinary wheelbarrow of soil is 

 not too much, but less may be needed. 

 You can find out how much this is to 

 the square yard or rod. 



It is a fact that occasionally the fin- 

 est of carnations are grown without 

 the aid of any manures, either artifi- 

 cial or animal; it has happened so 

 with me. Last year, running short of 

 bone, we used a grade of superphos- 

 phate known as potato phosphate and 

 the result was quite equal to that 

 from the bone and it was much less 

 expensive. Bone black is also excel- 

 lent, and many growers highly prize 

 wood ashes. If I were unable to pro- 

 cure both bone meal and the stable 

 manure I would much rather depend 

 on the bone meal or superphosphate 

 and dispense with the animal manure, 

 too much, of which produces a strong, 

 but soft growth. For the different 

 composts and their ingredients I must 

 refer you to the reports of Professors 

 Taft, Arthur and Bailey, or to our ex- 

 pert growers like Dorner & Sons. 



To return to the planting. If the 



House of Armazindy Carnations. 



soil is very dry when put on the 

 bench I prefer to give it a thorough 

 soaking a day or two before planting. 

 Make a wide hole with the trowel (but 

 your hand is the best trowel) and 

 spread the roots out in a natural way. 

 Push in the soil on the roots, and I 

 like to press the soil firmly around 

 the roots, and be sure not to put the 

 plant any deeper than it was growing 

 in the field. Deep planting has killed 

 lots of carnations. While you are mak- 

 ing the hole, arranging the roots and 

 filling in the soil with the right hand, 

 the plant is firmly grasped, with its 

 growth inside your fingers, by the left 

 hand, so you can see that the plant 

 is at the right depth, place and posi- 

 tion, and is finished off neatly in every 

 way. An earnest workman will do 

 all this well and neatly much quicker 

 than I can describe it. Some may 

 ask what may be considered a good 

 day's work for a man planting, sup- 

 posing the plants are delivered right 

 to his handi and other hands water 

 them. I would be quite satisfied with 

 1,500 in ten hours' work. Any faster 

 than this would raise doubts as to the 

 quality of the work. Soil, however, 

 makes a difference, and an upright 

 grower (like Scott) is quicker to han- 

 dle than Daybreak, which is spread- 

 ing. 



House Culture. 



The first week in the houses is the 

 most critical time with the carnations. 



If you get them well established it 

 will take a lot of brutal treatment to 

 kill them, although continued skillful 

 management is needed to insure best 

 results. I am very particular about 

 the first watering. It should be suffi- 

 cient to thoroughly wet every particle 

 of soil on the bench, and I am not 

 satisfied till I see it dripping through 

 the bottom of the bench. The quantity 

 of water will depend upon the dryness 

 of your soil when planting. We shade 

 the first week after planting (and I 

 think that is of great benefit) by sim- 

 ply throwing some muddy water on 

 the glass. A lump of stiff blue clay 

 dissolved in a tub of water and the 

 water thrown on by a tin dipper will 

 answer every purpose. The rain soon 

 washes it off and if you don't get a 

 rain the hose will do it with little 

 trouble. In a week, or at least in ten 

 days, the new roots will be active in 

 the benches and no more shade is 

 wanted till the following May or 

 June. 



If the weather is hot and windy I 

 prefer to let the houses be hot rather 

 than draughty. A cutting wind is bad 

 for any plant when its roots are inact- 

 ive, so keep the ventilators almost 

 closed for the first few days, and if 

 the nights are still give all the ventila- 

 tion you possibly can then. You will 

 see the carnations stand up in the 

 morning as if they had grown there 

 all summer. The cool night air is 



