34 JAMESTOWN CONGRESS OF HORTICULTURE 



tacks of disease or improper growing, of course, hasten the deteriora- 

 tion of a variety but do not concern us at this time. 



Granting that the mechanical part of the work is properly done, 

 the sand good and clean, watering and ventilation properly attended 

 to and soil and after culture all that can be asked, there is still deterio- 

 ration in many cases. A sickly or diseased plant gives its own warn- 

 ing, and only the most careless grower will take cuttings from it. By 

 far the most insidious danger lies in the strong vigorous plant produc- 

 ing fine blooms, but overfed. Here is the great danger and here, I 

 believe, lies the prime cause of deterioration, especially in the carnation. 

 A plant once overfed seems a changed individual and this changed 

 condition extends to its progeny by cuttings, to a great degree. 



When we have taken cuttings from healthy plants in vigorous 

 growing condition, and which we know not to have been over stimu- 

 lated ; when we have given them perfect conditions and perfect care, 

 from cutting to flowering time and back again, year after year, there 

 will often be noted a steady decline in productiveness with a possible 

 retention of good health and vigor. We have failed to learn our les- 

 son of the breeder, we have selected with only one object in view and 

 have overlooked the difference in productiveness of our individual 

 plants. When we learn to scrutinize every cutting as to its quality, 

 and every plant from which a cutting is made, not only as to its 

 health and vigor, but also as to its flower producing qualities, and to 

 reject all but the very best, then will we hear less of the deterioration 

 of varieties. 



In a word, success in breeding, success in propagating, in fact, suc- 

 cess in all floricultural operations is due to that quality by which some 

 writer has defined genius an infinite capacity for taking pains. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



The following notes, though hardly proper to be included in the 

 reading of this paper, may be of some interest if subsequently printed. 



It has been our custom to so time our crossing as to ripen seed 

 for March sowing. These seedlings have been planted in frames and 

 allowed to bloom in the open, those showing desirable qualities being 

 removed to the greenhouse for subsequent trial, the undesirable ones 

 being destroyed, and those not blooming before frost being disregarded, 

 experience having shown them to be generally worthless. 



The first bloom has been from July 15th to August 8th, varying 

 in different years. The plants blooming earliest have been generally 

 singles and those double enough for commercial purposes but of med- 

 ium or small size, with very few of the over double or bursting form. 

 The early bloomers have quite generally been found the freest in bloom 

 through later trials. The bursters have increased in number later, 

 while the singles, though still showing, have not been so numerous. The 

 larger number of desirable varieties have flowered from two to four 

 weeks after the first bloom, and seldom have any been saved after 

 September 15th. A record of each cross has of course always been 



