366 Cultivation of the Caimation and Picotee. 



color being confined to the margin or edges of the petals ; in 

 other respects as "the carnation." Some have a regular 

 stripe or solid marking round the edges ; others a series of 

 little narrow stripes blended together in one'; and each is 

 equally beautiful. But their marking should not run down 

 the petals, or the white up through the edging of them : they 

 should be perfectly white, and even round the edge of every 

 petal in the bloom. The stem of the carnation should be 

 moderately strong and upright, and free-growing plants are 

 very desirable. The foot-stalks should be elastic, of a pro- 

 portionate length, and sufficiently strong to support the 

 blooms. The calyx or pod should be at least an inch long, 

 not so full as to require a bandage to prevent its bursting on 

 one side, and of sufficient substance and firmness to support 

 the narrow bases of the petals in a close circular body. The 

 petals should be large and broad, and the nearer they ap- 

 proach to roundness the better, with a sufficient degree of 

 firmness and elasticity to preserve a buoyant position, the 

 bloom being without a wrinkle and perfectly smooth on the 

 edge ; they should also possess a slight disposition to cup, but 

 not to curl abruptly, on the outer edge : for that fault in 

 picotees would almost hide their marking, and the delicately 

 fine transparent texture and crystalline appearance so distin- 

 guishable in some carnations is in the highest degree desira- 

 ble. A narrow reflexed or flimsy-petalled flower is highly 

 objectionable. The outside petals or guard-leaves should be 

 the largest and strongest, which ought not to fall much below 

 a horizontal position, and each row of the inner petals should 

 rather diminish in size as they approach the centre of the 

 bloom, where they should be rather inclining to upright. The 

 number of petals should be about eighteen to twenty-five, and 

 these should form an elegant circular flower when viewed 

 from the crown, and if seen from the side present the upper 

 half of a globe, or the half of an ellipsis or oval ; and they 

 should be disposed with the greatest regularity alike all 

 round, to show the beauty and perfection of every petal. 

 The bloom ought not to be much less than three inches in 

 diameter. It can hardly be expected to meet with all these 



