50 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIGULTTJBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 19, 1877- 



the Continent, 'yet the largest and principal kind of Carnation 

 was then distinguished by the name of the Old English Car- 

 nation, """"t 



During the civil commotions of the latter part of the reign 

 of Charles I. and of the Commonwealth, this flower seems to 

 have been nearly lost in England, as Mr. John Eea remarks 

 in the "Flora" which he published in 1665, that we had 

 formerly many good kinds, but that few of them were then to 

 be found in any of our gardens. The Dutch had then taken 

 up the cultivation of the Carnation, and we renewed our 

 gardens with these flowers from Holland during the reign of 

 Charles II., as Eea observes :— " Of these Dutch flowers I have 

 known more than a hundred distinct varieties by several 

 names, all of them fair, large, and double flowers." He also 

 remarks that these plants were not so hardy as those that had 

 been formerly cultivated in England. In a later edition of 

 Mr. Eea's "Flora" 360 good sorts of Carnations are enume- 

 rated ; and to show how high this flower was in the estimation 

 of that author, we give his own words : — 



".For various colours Tulips most escel, 

 And some Auemonies do please as well, 

 Ranunculus in richest scarletB shine, 

 And Bear's Ears may with these in beautie joyn ; 

 But yet if ask and have were in my power, 

 Nest to the Rose give me the Gilliflower." 



Modern florists divide these flowers into three classes — 

 Flakes, Bizarres, and Picotees. The Flakes are so called from 



Fig. 16.— The Carnation. 



having two colours only, and their flaky stripes going quite 

 through the petals. Bizarres are so named from the French 

 word, which signifies odd or fantastical. These kinds have 

 not less than three colours, and are variegated in irregular 

 stripes or spots. Picotee is a corruption of the French, 

 piquetee, pricked or spotted. These flowers are distinguished 

 by having a clear ground, pounced or spotted with purple, 

 rose, red, or other colours. These classes are again sub- 

 divided, as Pink Flakes, Scarlet Flakes, Purple Flakes, Yellow 

 Flakes, &c, and the Picotees and Bizarres run through the 

 same changes almost to an endless amount. 



It is gratifying to observe that a flower so old and honoured 

 as the Carnation — the " Coronation flower " — a fit flower for a 

 diadem — is honoured still. "Next to the RoBe," said old Rea, 

 "give me the Gillyflower" (Carnation), and more than two 

 hundred years later we say the same, for like the Rose it is 

 hardy, beautiful, and sweet. Wherever the Rose will flourish 

 there also will the Carnation prosper. Let them dwell together 

 in sweet companionship. But while the Carnation will succeed 



where the Rose thrives, the Rose will not always flourish where 

 the Carnation grows and flowers in healthy freedom. The 

 Bose, although otherwise so hardy, speedily succumbs to a 

 polluted atmosphere ; the pure breath of nature is indispen- 

 sable for its well-being. But the Carnation is a flower of and 

 for the town as well as the country. A murky atmosphere can- 

 not prevent its beauty unfolding or its perfume penetrating the 

 smoke-laden air. It is the flower of flowers for town gardens 

 ■ — the little home plots which skirt our cities, and we would 

 like to see it in all of them — a hardy garden flower. We know 

 of some Carnations now in a little London garden which are 

 viewed with envious eyes (is not such envy pardonable ?) by 

 the passing crowd. 



As an exhibition flower the Carnation is equally worthy of 

 patronage. It is the cultivating and exhibiting of beautiful 

 flowers — florist flowers — which increases their popularity. Had 

 it not been for a previous exhibition of the National Carnation 

 Society the flowers referred to in the little London garden 

 would not have been there. We know, too, of another town 

 garden where some of the varieties which charmed the visitors 

 at South Kensington last year are now growing and blooming. 

 Perhaps these small collections are owned by exhibitors in 

 embryo. Who knows ? But at any rate the flowers are doing 

 good, for they are imparting pleasure, and brightness, and 

 sweetness where such influences are required and where they 

 are appreciated. These are only two instanoes of the power 



TflflflTtmnT"""™ 1 



Fig. 17.— The Picotee. 



of exhibitions in promoting the cultivation of flowers. Can 

 they be the only two ? We think not ; but, on the contrary, 

 we think and we hope there are many more. We wish, there- 

 fore, to see exhibitions of floriBt flowers increase and expand, 

 because their direct tendency is to increase the love for flowers. 

 All who are engaged in such a work are engaged worthily, for 

 we consider the object to be of great public advantage, and our 

 hope is that the exhibition of Carnations and Picotees now 

 on the eve of being arranged will be very successful. 



It was recently stated by a correspondent that the season of 

 blooming and the time of increasing the Bose occurring to- 

 gether contributed materially to increase the cultivation of 

 that flower. The Carnation possesses the same advantage. 

 It iB during the period of flowering that layering must be 

 effected and pipings inserted. A good old florist has given the 

 following directions on propagation. If any modern florists 

 oan describe better modes we shall be glad to record them : — 



" Layering. — The plant should be placed in the sun, so 

 that it may beoome dry and pliable before the layers are bent 



