74: EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 



Each of these three classes are sub-denominated according to their 

 colors, as scarlet-flake, pink-flake, scarlet-bizarre, etc., etc. 



The stripes or spots in Carnations are usually in shades of scarlet, 

 pink and purple, on a white, pink, red or yellow ground. 



The word " Carnation " is fully significant of the flesh-color which 

 characterized the original and earlier cultivated varieties. 



Of all the flowers that adorn the garden, whether they charm the eye 

 by their beauty, or regale the sense of smelling by their fragrance, the 

 Carnation may justly rank next to the Rose. 



The Flemish weavers, who sought a refuge in England from the 

 religious persecutions of Philip II, and the cruelty of the Duke of Alva, 

 were renowned for their Carnations, Eoses, and Gilliflowers, and they 

 introduced many of the rarest varieties of these flowers, often superior 

 to the specimens produced by professional gardeners. Mr. Hogg, a 

 celebrated florist, and also a writer upon Floriculture, declares that " it 

 is not every gardener who knows how to grow a Carnation, and there is 

 not one in ten whose assistance I would claim on the most pressing 

 occasion, and leave the operation of layering to them unlocked after ; 

 whereas I would implicitly trust it to any weaver, cobbler or barber who 

 had had the least practice with his own flowers." 



There is hardly any plant grown by florists to which they consider a 

 congenial soil is of so much importance. It should be composed of one- 

 half rotten horse manure, not less than a year old; that which hag 

 been used in a hot-bed is just the article for composing the soil for 

 Carnations. Add to it one-third fresh loam, and one-third coarse river 

 sand. If these ingredients are mixed together in the Autumn, and 

 allowed to freeze, and in the Spring are thoroughly mixed up, a good com- 

 post will be obtained. Those of our readers who live near a florist had bet- 

 ter buy the compost for their plants. Large piles of it are always kept on 

 hand, and sold cheaply. It is better to supply the soil for all pot plants 

 in this way. Carnations are propagated by seed, layers and cuttings. 



The seed should be sown in April or May, in pots filled with rich 

 compost, and a little fine sand, barely sufficient to cover them, sprinkled 

 over the seeds. As soon as the young plants are three inches high, they 

 should be planted out into a bed of rich soil. They will not bloom 

 until the following Summer, but the plants can be protected in cold 

 climates by laying sods of grass over them, or by keeping the plants in 

 the cellar in boxes. 



