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GROWING A CROP OF 



CARNATION CUTTINGS 



Not many florists need to he told about the umisual success that the 

 writer of this article has attained in the propagation of carnations; his record 

 is well knoum. But many florists, no douht, would like to ask, "lloiv does he 

 do it?" Here he answers that question. , 



OUE success in growing 

 carnations next season will 

 depend in large measure on 

 your success in propagat- 

 ing the young plants this 

 winter. Many a failure 

 can be traced back to the 

 cutting bench. Poorly 

 selected or insuflSciently 

 rooted cuttings or the pres- 

 ence of a batch of cutting bench fungi 

 will be sure to show their effects on the 

 blooming 8tQ<3k the next season. Propa- 

 gating the cuttings is the starting of the 

 next season's crop and it pays to get 

 started right. Successful growers ap- 

 preciate this fact to the extent of build- 

 ing special benches and even specially 

 designed houses for propagating. While 

 special propagating houses are a big 

 help in rooting the 

 cuttings, they are 

 not indispensable. 

 Good success is 

 attainable in any 

 house where the 

 sunlight and drafts 

 may' be kept under 

 control. 



The Benches. 



We have for many 

 years propagated a 

 portion of our stock 

 on a north side 

 bench in a thirty- 

 foot - w i d e, high 

 house. During tne 

 winter months, 

 when it is not neces- 

 sary to raise the 

 ventilators high, we 

 find it as easy to 

 propagate on this 

 bench as in our 

 special propagating 

 house. 



This north bench 

 is built with a brick 

 bottom, which we 

 find far superior to 

 wood. In the propa- 

 gating house the 

 benches are built 

 entirely of tile. 

 These are also supe- 

 rior to wood bench- 

 es, but not so good 

 as soft brick, on ac- 

 count of the thin 

 glaze on the surface 

 of the tile. Over 

 the benches, and 

 about thirty inches 

 j.bove the cuttings, 

 we have built askel- 



By A. F. J. BAUR. 



cton frame to support the muslin cur- 

 tains. One curtain lies on top of this 

 frame, to be spread out on bright days 

 and drawn away on cloudy days and at 

 night. Another curtain hangs at the 

 front, reaching down well below the top 

 of the edge-board, and keeps the sun 

 and draft away on bright days. 



Ready for tbe Sand. 



Wc consider the foregoing method of 

 shading far superior, during the winter 

 months, to the old method of laying 

 newspapers directly on the cuttings. It 

 permits a better atmosphere around the 

 cuttings. Toward spring we find it nec- 

 essary to lay papers on the cuttings a 

 few hours 6n bright days, in addition to 



Shoots Suitable and Unsuitable for Making Good Cuttings. 



the muslin curtains, to prevent too rapid 

 evaporation. 



Having built the proper kind of bench, 

 the next step is to fill it to a depth of 

 about three inches with clean, sharp 

 sand. Either waslied river sand or bank 

 sand may bo used. It makes little dif- 

 ference as to its fineness or coarseness of 

 grain, if it is even throughout. Fine 

 sand will hold the water longer; hence, 

 patches of sand of uneven grain cause 

 trouble in the watering. 



Figure 1 in the accompanying illus- 

 tration shows a flower shoot, tipped with 

 a bud and bearing four young shoots 

 along the stem. The uppermost shoot is 

 too weak to make a good cutting. It 

 would root and grow into a plant, but 

 would always be weak. Weak cuttings 

 tend to lower the vigor of the stock. 

 The middle two 

 shoots in figure 1 

 are ideal cuttings. 

 The lower shoot will 

 make a good cutting 

 if left on until it 

 has developed to 

 proper size. 



Uniform Cuttings. 



It pays to select 

 cuttings of uniform 

 size and it is advis- 

 able to take- t^wo 

 batches, rather than 

 one big batch of un- 

 even size. The larger 

 cuttings will crowd 

 the s m a 1 1 c r ones, 

 causing the batch to 

 be uneven in vigor, 

 and this unevenness 

 will continue all the 

 way through to the 

 l)]ooming bench. 



Most varieties 

 will produce suffi- 

 cient good cuttings 

 along the flower 

 stems to permit the 

 cut flower grower to 

 propagate enough 

 young stock to re- 

 plant his benches, 

 but occasionally he 

 finds a variety that 

 makes practically no 

 side shoots and he is 

 forced either to use 

 young flowering 

 shoots or to wait for 

 the young breaks 

 which grow on the 

 stubs of the flower 

 stems after the 

 blooms are cut, and 



