348 Cultivation of the Carnation and Picotee, 



( "%'. 93. )j each glass containing about sixteen cuttings; ^' 

 these, being perfectly air-tight, are better adapted to the Q 

 purpose than those generally used, and particularly for 

 carnations, as they are more difficult to strike than either pinks 

 or picotees. They must not, however, be put over them until 

 the grass of the pipings is dry ; but, when it is, press them 

 down close, so that the rim may enter the mould, and it will 

 not be necessary to move them for ten days or a fortnight, 

 unless any decay or mouldiness appear, which must be 

 immediately removed, and, should the weather be hot and 

 dry, water them occasionally over the glasses. After this 

 period they should be taken off, both for watering and airing 

 the pipings, being careful to wipe them clean and dry before 

 they are replaced; and, when the fibres are formed, which 

 will be seen by the verdure and grovv'th, more air will be- 

 come necessary. The glasses, therefore, must be put on 

 lightly, and more frequently taken off, for the purpose of ven- 

 tilation, and if it is not convenient to place the bed in the situ- 

 ation above directed, then some hoops or other framework 

 must be placed over the bed, for the purpose of supporting mats^ 

 or other light covering, to shade them from the too great heat 

 of the sun. In about six weeks they will, in all probability, 

 be sufficiently rooted, and they may then be transplanted into 

 the small pots (48s), three or four in a pot, where they are 

 to continue until repotted for bloom. It will, however, be 

 proper, after they are put into the small pots, to place them in 

 a cold cucumber or melon frame, with the lights on, observing 

 to shade them from the sun, for a few days, until they again 

 take root, when the glasses may be removed ; and here they, 

 as well as the layers, may remain until the beginning of Octo- 

 ber, when they should be removed to their winter quarters, in 

 a situation open to the southward, and well protected from the 

 north and east, in preparing which I put full six inches of 

 coal-ashes on the ground, previously to placing my frames, 

 and then fill them up with the same article, until the back and 

 front are on the same level with the lights, by doing which 

 the pots at the back of the frame are as near to the glass as 

 those in the front. The glasses should be kept entirely off, 

 except in wet or frosty weather ; the plants, however, will bear 

 dry frost infinitely better than damp and foggy weather, and 

 although it is necessary that they should be kept moderately 

 moist, yet it is better to err by under rather than over watering, 

 observing always to be careful not to water them over the 

 grass, and also to keep them clear from dead or decaying 

 leaves, and occasionally to stir up the mould about half an 

 inch deep, to destroy any moss which may appear on the sur- 



