22 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 
also kills the Carnations. The only plan is to carefully pick 
out the wireworms by moving the soil over ; but even then 
many are missed during the process. Fibrous turf in a 
well-rotted condition is certainly the best material for form- 
ing Carnation beds, if the staple soil of the garden is not 
suitable ; and, as turf is very seldom free from wireworms, 
the loam should be treated 
in the following manner :— 
Make a heap of the fibrous 
loam as it is delivered, add- 
ing to every four loads of 
loam a load of fresh stable 
") manure, mixing the two to- 
l\ | rel gether. The manure will 
~ Wh cause sufficient heat to be 
WLP hy generated to destroy all pests 
_ Va Ly a contained in the soil, in- 
Vy cluding the wireworms, and 
the compost will be ready 
for use in five or six months. 
If Carnations are planted 
in beds, four rows of plants 
in each bed will be suff- 
cient. If the bed is 6 feet wide, the first two rows 
should be planted 6 inches from the edge ; the rows may 
be 16 inches apart, and 16 inches should be allowed 
between the plants in the rows. Autumn-planting begins 
at about the middle of September, but it may be carried 
out even as late as the middle of November in ordinary 
seasons. A few of the lower leaves may be removed 
from the plants, say one or two pairs, and the layers 
os 
Fic. 1.—Showing how a layer is notched 
before it is pegged down. 
