RAISING BORDER CARNATIONS FROM SEED 39 



the expert will be able to detect those plants likely to throw single 

 flowers or be otherwise inferior the quality of the " grass " will 

 be his guide, and he is not likely to make many mistakes. No hard 

 and fast description of inferior plants can be accurately and 

 intelligibly given in writing it is only actual experience that will 

 enable a grower to " spot " them readily ; all we can say is that 

 the foliage is " weedy " looking, generally thinner and more puny 

 than the good ones, lacking that firm and glaucous character which 

 the foliage of young carnations should carry. Years ago some 

 unprincipled raisers of carnations used to send these " Jacks " 

 to be peddled around the country, unfortunately with names 

 attached to them, but we believe this unscrupulous traffic has been 

 nearly stamped out. 



But to return. By midsummer the young plants will, if they have 

 done well, fully occupy the 2 inches of their allotted space, and it 

 is not advisable to leave them to become crowded. They will, of 

 course, by this time be standing in the open, and it is the practice 

 of some growers to leave them in these original boxes all the summer. 

 This is not fair to the plants ; it does not give them a chance, 

 and those who are anxious to get the best out of them will do well 

 to follow one of three alternatives : either to pot them off into 6o's., 

 using a compost similar to the last, but with bone-meal added ; 

 transplant them into other and slightly deeper boxes, giving them 

 3 inches of space ; or, more economical, transplanting into a 

 temporary bed of prepared soil, where they can receive daily 

 attention. For limited stocks we recommend the potting, for stocks 

 of say 300 to 500 the box method, and for larger stocks the trans- 

 planting into temporary beds at 3^ to 4 inches apart. 



The transplanting into more permanent quarters in September 

 is a matter of routine. The soil must be porous and well dug. 

 Manure should be worked in, and mortar rubble, if available, 

 though not in large quantity. For convenience sake, and to prevent 

 unduly treading on the bed when tying up the growths or cutting 

 the bloom, it is not advisable to make the beds more than 4 feet 

 wide, so that the centre may be easily reached from either side. 

 We are speaking of nursery beds when we say plant at 8 or 9 inches 

 apart in the rows, with i foot from row to row. Private growers 

 in planting named varieties, or nurserymen who plant for stock 



