History of the Development of the Carnation 



"The preference which one class of flowers at times is said to obtain over another, 

 depends entirely on the taste and fancy of the person who gives that preference. The 

 scarlet bizarre is a favorite with one, the crimson with another, the purple flake with 

 another, and so on in like manner with the rest. 



"There can be no certain or fixed rule why one is to be judged in this respect 

 superior to another, where taste is the only criterion to go by. A flower possessed 

 of all the properties called for by the rules and regulations laid down in the societies, 

 where they are exhibited for prizes, is seldom or never met with." 



From the above it would appear that in Thomas Hogg's time only flakes, 

 bizarres and picotees were considered good carnations, while at present the 

 self colors are considered preferable in America. 



From these descriptions it would seem that we have as yet by no means 

 reached the full development of this magnificent flower. But, as stated, the 

 English variety is an entirely different race from that which has come to be 

 known as the American carnation. It is not a perpetual bloomer, either in the 

 open ground or upon stages, giving one large crop of flowers during the 

 months of June and July, or August, according to the earliness of the variety. 

 But little of the blood of the English carnation has been used by American hy- 

 bridizers in the development of the American race, although the author 

 secured some of the most perpetual blooming varieties of carnations that we 

 have ; namely, General Maceo, General Gomez, Governor Roosevelt, and 

 their progeny, by hybridizing American sorts with the pollen of the English 

 variety Winter Cheer. 



About 1876, Mr. Rudolph Heintz, of Detroit, raised Heintz's White, one 

 of the best-known varieties of American origin, which remained in general 

 cultivation until 1895, or nearly 20 years. This variety passed into the hands 

 of John Breitmeyer & Sons, of Detroit, Mich., and was disseminated by that 

 firm. Mr. Heintz also originated another variety Heintz's Red. 



Following the work of Dailledouze, Zeller and Donati comes that of Mr. 

 Charles T. Starr, of Avondale, Pa. (who commenced as a florist about 

 1870), and Mr. John Thorpe, of Queens, N. Y. In 1878, Starr began offer- 

 ing to the trade seedling carnations of his own raising, his first offerings being 

 the varieties Lord Clyde and Lydia. There is no record extant of the 

 varieties he offered between the years 1878 and 1884, but, in 1884, he intro- 

 duced the famous Buttercup, also Dawn, Century, Scarlet King, Field of 

 Gold, Lady Emma, Philadelphia, Avondale, Mrs. Garfield, and a number of 

 others. He continued the growing and introduction of seedling carnations 

 until his death, which occurred in 1891. There is very little known of his 



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