88 PLANT CUI.TURE 



Sand. When there is a choice, a rather large-grained sand and 

 one free from all impurities should be selected; from 3 to 4 inches 

 deep will be sufficient. 



Cuttings. These may be put in any time during the Winter 

 months, but February is the safest time for the ordinary crop. 

 Those rooted previous to that month are apt to put on a spindling 

 growth. Restricted root room has a tendency to promote hardening 

 of the stem and firmness in the foliage, and while the Carnation is in 

 reahty an evergreen shrub, it is a soft-wooded one, and should be 

 kept in a growing state from the cutting to the flowering plant. 

 The cuttings are usually pulled from the plant; this is the worst 

 possible method, because the exceedingly dehcate vessels in the im- 

 mediate neighborhood of the break are strained and displaced, ac- 

 cording to the tension exerted in severing. They strike all right, 

 evidently so, but they should be severed with a knife. 



Material for Cuttings. In this as in other matters, judicious 

 selection of the material to form future plants will go a long way in 

 determining whether these plants will attain the maximum state in 

 healthy vigor, combined with flower productiveness. It does not 

 take a very experienced Carnationist to tell at a glance whether 

 the growths are flabby, as a result of being forced in too high and 

 humid an atmosphere, or crisp and stocky, owing to having been 

 subjected to favorable conditions. Grassy growths at the base of 

 the plant are avoided, as they show a tendency to perpetuate this 

 condition to a degree unfavorable to floriferousness. As the extra 

 floriferous nature of a single branch of a tree or shrub can be per- 

 petuated by propagating from that branch, in like manner the best 

 material for cuttings is formed on the flowering branches of the 

 Carnation. They are found in the axils of the older leaves, and 

 should be taken when they are from 2 to 3 inches long. 



Treatment During Rooting. The leaves of the cuttings are 

 sometimes shortened back at the tips, but this is immaterial, and 

 the practice has arisen probably through a desire to have the batch 

 look uniform in size and to economize space. Each cutting should 

 be dibbled in by itself, to insure perfect rooting conditions; but by 

 making a cut in the sand with a small, flat trowel, guided by a nar- 

 row strip of wood placed and held firmly against the last row of cut- 

 tings (this precaution will prevent the loosening of the sand next 

 the cuttings by the action of the trowel), the operation is hastened. 

 The temperature should be from 50 to 55 degrees at first, increasing 

 to 60 degrees later on. After rooting has commenced examine the 



