History of the Development of the Carnation 



esteemed as a strange and remarkable plant. It was named Mrs. Degraw, 

 in honor of the wife of the then president of the Brooklyn Horticultural 

 Society. At the same time another white variety named Flatbush was pro- 

 duced; these being introduced to the trade about 1864. Between the years 

 1866 and 1872 several varieties were produced by Mr. Zeller, which were 

 grown a number of years chiefly as pot plants, among them a pure white 

 of fine habit and long, rigid stem, which was named and introduced as 

 Louise Zeller. 



The firm of Dailledouze & Zeller issued a catalogue between 1862 and 

 1872, but as this catalogue is not dated, the exact period of its publication is 

 not known to the writer. The firm offered for sale plants of fifty-four 

 varieties of carnations, which were described in this list, at prices ranging 

 from seventy-five cents to' three dollars each. In this catalogue were listed 

 the varieties, Mrs. Degraw, Flatbush, General Grant and Mrs. Zeller. 



During this period another seedling, which was called Victor Emanuel, 

 synonym Astoria, was raised by Donati, a French florist, then living in 

 Astoria, L. I. The ground color of this variety was yellow, flaked and 

 striped with red. This became one of the most famous of the early American 

 carnations, and remained under cultivation for a number of years, being 

 probably the ancestor of most of the yellow American carnations which are 

 in existence to-day. 



Thus it appears that nearly a half century ago the development of the 

 American carnation was begun on Long Island, where its culture has been 

 continued and expanded until that section has become one of the chief centers 

 of the carnation industry of this country. 



In the beginning of the iQth century, a form of carnation craze overran 

 England, and during this period carnation culture was brought to great 

 perfection ; blooms, three and four inches in diameter, held upon erect, stiff 

 stems thirty to forty inches in length, being considered the criterion of a 

 perfect carnation. The following description of carnations grown at that time, 

 taken from "Don's Gardeners' Dictionary," published in 1830, will give a fair 

 idea of what the English carnation exhibitor was expected to produce : 



"Criterion of a fine double carnation. The stem should be strong, tall, and straight ; 

 not less than 30 inches or more than 45 inches high ; the footstalks supporting the 

 flowers should be strong, elastic, and of a proportionate length. The flower should 

 be at least 3 inches in diameter, consisting of a great number of large, well-formed 

 petals, but neither so many as to give it too full and crowded an appearance, nor so few 

 as to make it appear thin and empty. The petals should be long, broad and substantial, 

 particularly those of the lower and outer circle, commonly called the guard leaves; 

 these should rise perpendicular about half an inch above the calyx, and then turn off 



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