Raising Carnations from Seed 







those taken in will be thought worthy of a second year's trial, and such as 

 are selected should be immediately marked with a label to denote the 

 selection. This label should always remain with the plant, as it identifies the 

 pedigree, or life history, as it were, of the seedling. 



In selecting a seedling for the second year's trial, be sure of a firm, large, 

 well-formed calyx, for if you fail to select good firm calyces a crop of 

 "bursters" may be your reward. 



The seed parent should always have good strong stems and large, well- 

 formed flowers, as the axiom that "like will produce like" will be found 

 to hold, to some extent, in the reproduction of carnation plants from seed. 



Close attention should also be paid to the habit of the seed plant 

 selected. Such plants should possess strong, vigorous constitutions and a 

 tendency toward rapid, free growth and early and continuous flowering. By 

 a course of careful selection, extending over a period of years, the grower 

 will produce a strain of plants peculiarly his own, from which by careful 

 breeding he will be able to obtain many sorts of great merit. He will cer- 

 tainly secure far better results than if his work has been done in a careless, 

 unsystematic manner and without regard to the pedigree or physical charac- 

 teristics .of his seed plants. 



The size and form and stem of the flower, as well as the habit, having 

 been approved, the next point to be considered is color, and in this, careful 

 work in the selection of pure, clear tints will bear fruit fully as richly as 

 the selection with respect to other characteristics. 



Some royal beauties will fall to the lot of every careful breeder who 

 does his work faithfully and well. The varieties Governor Roosevelt, Mrs. 

 Thomas W. Lawson, Adonis, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Prosperity, and 

 Enchantress are likely examples of the result of careful work faithfully per- 

 formed. However, Dame Carnation produces some strange freaks, and now 

 and then the grower will discover such absurdities as the anemone-flowered 

 carnation, the Jumbo, and the two-storied flower. These, while decidedly 

 interesting, can seldom be perpetuated and are, as a rule, of no value, save 

 as curiosities. 



In selecting the colors, the tints should be pure and clear, and the tones 

 pleasing to the eye. A mixture of purple and pink tones should be avoided, 

 choosing for the pink section those tones that are clear and inclined toward 

 the salmon, or flesh pink, rather than toward the magenta. 



Among the bizarres, strange and beautiful combinations of delicate 

 coloring will be found, and these colorings are not always disposed in regular 



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