Book II. CARNATION. 



859 



6428. When then' flower^tema are grown eight or ten inches high, it will be necessary to support them 

 with sticks, forced into the earth in the centre of the pot, to which the stems are to be loosely tied with 

 small pieces of bass mat : these sticks should be as high as the hoops will admit, in order that the pots may 

 remain under them as long as possible ; but when the stems are grown too high for this situation the 

 pots are to be removed to the stage, and remain there till the time of bloom ; the small sticks should be 

 replaced with others more suitable for the occasion ; these should be about four feet or four feet six inches 

 long, regularly tapering a little from the bottom to the top, and be painted green ; they should be sub- 

 stantial and straight, and their lower ends are to be forced into the earth in the centre of the pot, suffi- 

 ciently deep and tirm, not to be shaken loose by the wind. As the stems continue to advance in height 

 the tying, as above, must be also continued at about every five or six inches : it is proper to look over 

 and examine the plants for this purpose every three or four days, as the stems are rather brittle, and 

 liable to be broken by the wind, if not supported in this manner. 



6429. If any small, green, winged insects appear on the stems or foliage of the plants, particularly upon 

 or underneath the flower-pods, they must be effectually extirpated or destroyed, either by the means of a 

 small soft brush or feather, by the application of a strong infusion of tobacco- water, or some similar easy 

 and safe expedient : even Scotch snuff' dusted upon the infested parts early in the morning, while the 

 plants are wet with the dew of the night, has been sometimes tried in this case with success. 



6430. The calyx of many sorts contains a great number of petals, which, as they increase in bulk, will 

 distend and burst it, if not timely prevented : this generally happens a few days previous to the proper 

 time for the blossoms opening, and will, if neglected, soon manifest the effects of such neglect, by letting 

 out the petals on one side, and thereby producing a loose irregular appearance, totally destroying that 

 compact, graceful, circular form which a perfect flower ought to possess, and which is one of its greatest 

 ornaments ; but this disagreeable effect may be easily avoided, by fastening a small narrow slip of bladder 

 round the middle of the pod, where it is most swelled, and appears to have the greatest inclination to 

 burst. The slip of bladder should be rather longer than is required to go once round, so that one end of it 

 may lay over the other a little, which, by the application of a little gum-water, will adhere firmly together, 

 and answer the purpose completely. Small slips of wet bass mat may be substituted for those of bladder, 

 and being tied with a single knot round the same part of the pod, will answer nearly as well. ( fig. 612. b) 



6431 When any of the flowers begin to open and expand, such should be shaded, both from sun and rain, 

 by means of strong caps or paper covers {fig. 612. d), about twelve inches in diameter, painted white or 

 green, and formed like an umbrella, to throw off rain ; each should have a square tin tube on the sum- 

 mit, that will permit the stick, to which the stem is tied, to pass through it as far as is necessary. The 

 tube should be about two inches long, and have a small hole bored through one of its sides, that it may be 

 fixed by a nail to any part of the stick where required. But when the major part are in bloom, a cloth 

 awning should be placed over the whole, and be drawn up or let down by means of lines and pulleys, ex- 

 actly in the same manner, and on the same occasions, as for the bloom of hyacinths and tulips". The 

 same frame that was used for the hyacinth (fig. 591.) will, without bsing removed or taken down, answer 

 in every respect for carnations : nor can any other more suitable be contrived or adopted. 



6432. In order that the flowers may appear to the greatest advantage, it is necessary that the pots should 

 stand upon a stage or platform of boards raised about twelve or fifteen inches above the ground ; this 

 stage should be very strongly supported, in order to sustain the immense weight of the pots, without dan- 

 ger of giving way ; the supporters of this platform should stand in shallow leaden or earthen vessels, filled 

 with water, to prevent the access of earwigs, which are destructive enemies to the blossoms of carna- 

 tions : they secrete themselves commonly during night in the calyx {fig. 612. a), and soon commence their 

 depredations, by biting off" and devouring the lower ends or claws of the petals, which of course will 

 cause them to drop out, and thereby disfigure the flower. 



6433. The stands, or reservoirs, should be broad enough to allow an intermediate space of water, three 

 or four inches wide, between their sides and the supporters placed in the centre of each. Earwigs will 

 nevertheless be frequently found amongst the flowers, having been brought upon the stage with the pots, 

 where they remain concealed, or dormant, till the flowers are in bloom ; or perhaps they may have 

 gained access bv having crept up the external frame^ and from thence fallen down upon the pots ; or they 

 may possibly have flown upon them, as they are evidently provided with wings, though it does not appear 

 that they often make use of them. At all events, it is necessary frequently to examine the plants, and 

 the sticks which support the stems, as earwigs will be often found concealed there in the daytime, par- 

 ticularly at the part where the stems are tied, which affords them a more secure hiding place. If any of 

 the petals hang loose, or drop out, it is a certain sign that an earwig is, or has been there : in the first case, 

 blowing forcibly with the mouth, into the blossom, two or three times, will cause it to creep out ; but if it 

 has quitted the blossom previous to the discovery, it should be carefully sought after and destroyed, or it 

 will continue its depredations the succeeding night ; it will, however, most probably be found sculking 

 somewhere about the same pot, but not farther distant than the next, or next but one, unless the search 

 has been deferred too long. 



6434. The flowers should be suspended from the sticksby small pieces of fine elastic brass wire (fig. 612. e), 

 of unequal lengths, >old in the pin-shops,) to support them in an easy graceful manner, neither too near 

 together nor remote from each other : one end of the wire should be introduced into the stick by means 

 of a small awl, and there be fixed sufficiently tight to prevent its dropping out by the weight of the blos- 

 som ; the other end of the wire should be formed into a small ring, about a quarter of an inch in dia- 

 meter, to enclose the stem below the calyx ; this ring should be a little open on one side to admit the 

 stem freelv, without bruising it, which would materially injure the bloom. 



6435. Those ivho are particularly curious in blowing their carnations, carefully extract such petals as are 

 plain, or run from their true colors : they perform this by means of an instrument adapted to the purpose 

 (fig 612. /), and with the same arrange the remaining petals, so as to supply the defect; in like manner 

 they dispose the whole with such regularity that the flowers appear to have an equal distribution of beau- 

 tiful petals, nearly alike on every side, without imbricating each other, so as to hide their respective 

 beauties : and if the blossom consists of too great a number of petals, they extract the smallest, and 

 thereby afford the others more room to expand, which takes off* the confused effect always produced by 

 redundancy. The pots must be kept regularly and constantly watered during bloom, in the manner before 

 described, 'and no favorable opportunity should be neglected to afford them the full advantage of ex- 

 posure to light and air, by drawing up the cloth covering, in the manner before described ; but no ram 

 must be admitted to the blossoms at any period of the bloom. Some place their stage, or platform, on 

 one side, others in the centre ; but a double row of pots on each side, with a commodious path in the 

 middle, is preferable. If the pots contain only two plants each, they consequently are not required to be 

 so large as for four or five ; but the latter have much the best appearance in bloom, producing a greater 

 number of blossoms : it is not however advisable to permit every pod to blow, especially of such sorts as 

 are naturally possessed of but few petals ; because it would render each blossom smaller and thinner than 

 if only one or two were left on each plant : it is, therefore, proper in this case to cut off, or draw out the 

 small lateral pods, close to the main stem, as soon as they can be ascertained, in order that the remainder 

 mav have time to reap due benefit by it ; but those sorts that have remarkably large short pods, abound- 

 ing with petals, must be suffered to bloom them all, or the greater part, although, in general, three or 

 four pods are as many as ought to be suffered to blow on one plant. These rules, or remarks, admit of 

 some few exceptions, but the instances seldom occur. 



6436 Carnations are to be treated, during winter, much like auriculas : with respect to the weather, 

 they are seldom injured by a moderate dry frost, though it is safer to defend them from too much of it ; 

 but it is very necessarv to caution against covering them up close when the plants are wet, as they are, in 



