January i8, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



31 



sixty degrees, with slight bottom-heat, are also points to ob- 

 serve. The cuttings should be made from sturdy shoots, 

 such as those generally found on blooming stems, for they 

 are much superior to bottom shoots, because the latter usually 

 run up to a Hower very soon after they are rooted. 



Carnation-cuttings should never be cut from the parent 

 plant, but always broken, and the cuttings above mentioned 

 seldom need any trimming, even at the bottom, though it is 

 best to trim the leaves somewhat with a sharp knife, for the 

 removal of part of the foliage leaves less strain on the vitality 

 of the cutting, and makes it more convenient for planting. 

 They should then be inserted in the sand at once. The com- 

 mon method for planting small cuttings, by scoring a line in 

 the sand with an old knife, makes a drill deep enough to hold 

 the cuttings securely after they are watered in. Some shading 

 will be needed to protect the cuttings from tlie full strength of 

 the sunshine, and newspapers laid on laths placed across the 



test what sorts are most suitable for a given locality, but the 

 following are all good, and among them some satisfactory 

 ones in each division. Among the many white varieties the 

 following are particularly good : Mrs. Fisher, Hinzie's White, 

 Lamborn, Silver Spray and Lizzie McGowan. In pink shades, 

 Edna Craig, Daybreak, Grace Wilder and Grace Battles may 

 be considered among the best, the first of the quartet not 

 being as yet in general cultivation, though it shows marked 

 good qualities in the vicinity of Philadelphia. In the extended 

 list of red and crimson shades, Portia, Alegatiere, Lady Emma, 

 Ferdinand Mangold and King of the Crimsons are leading 

 favorites, though the last-named is rather late-flowering. 

 Among the yellow and striped flowers, Buttercup, Golden 

 Gate, Chester Pride, American Flag and Mrs. Carnegie are 

 considered best. 



A generally satisfactory yellow Carnation would be hailed 

 with much enthusiasm by most growers. This is apparently 



Fig. 6. — Scene near Battle Pass, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York. — See page 26. 



bench answer very well for this purpose. If proper attention 

 is given to the necessary supply of moisture the cuttings will 

 be rooted in from two to three weeks. When rooted they 

 should either be potted off into small pots or planted in shal- 

 low boxes. Growers who prefei" the latter plan argue that 

 the plants so treated do not get root-bound and stunted, as is 

 sometimes the case with pot-grown stock. On the other hand, 

 it is claimed by some that the plants grown in boxes are likely 

 to suffer from disturbance of their roots at planting-out time. 

 It will readily be seen that the latter objection will not hold 

 :good if the separation be carefully made, and (he plants treated 

 in this manner can be conveniently moved from house to 

 frame as soon as they are sutficiently established. This cool 

 treatment of the young stock before planting out induces a 

 sturdy growth. 



It is not a safe rule to recommend any varieties of Carna- 

 tions as being reliable in all localities, for differences in soil, 

 doubtless, make some difference in the behavior of certain 

 varieties, and it is, therefo>"e, necessary to find out by actual 



the most difficult want to supply among the Carnation experts, 

 and while the two yellows noted above may not prove entirely 

 satisfactory, yet they are probably the best of that color. 



Holmesburg, Pa. ^. H. TapUn. 



Irises and Their Cultivation. — V. 



'X'HE Japanese Irises of our gardens are varieties of I. laevi- 

 -*■ gata (I. Kasmpferi), a species which is native of eastern 

 Siberia and Japan. In the latter country it seems to be one of 

 the most popular of garden-plants, for it is not only in exten- 

 sive cultivation, but it is also one of the flowers very frequently 

 appearing on those flamboyant screens, etc., in which the Japa- 

 nese artisans delight. These Irises seem to have been culti- 

 vated in gardens here only since the opening of the treaty 

 ports of Japan. Probably the first were Introduced by the late 

 Thomas Hogg, about the year 1869, and were grown in James 

 Hogg'sgarden,andbyDr.Geor^eThurber, who described them 

 in the American Agriculturist m 1870. It is interesting to know 



