CARNATIONS IN MOUNTAIN STATES 1 25 



escape the hailstorms which sometimes nearly ruin them, 

 they ought to be of satisfactory size by the first to the 

 middle of August for lifting from the field and replanting 

 in the houses. 



Before beginning our planting we shade the house 

 heavily with mud, close all ventilation and wet down the 

 walks and under the benches. When all is ready the 

 plants are brought from the field with all the soil that will 

 cHng to them and transferred to the bench as quickly as 

 possible. The house is kept absolutely without ventila- 

 tion for the first two or three days, and the plants are 

 frequently syringed. The walks and the ground under the 

 benches are kept drenched and everything possible done to 

 prevent wilting. As soon as it seems safe, a little ventila- 

 tion is given, generally starting at night, and the shade 

 gradually removed. Within ten days the house is having 

 full light and ventilation. 



It should be noted that very few of the plants are 

 grown exclusively in benches. Another important point is 

 that manure is to be used more sparingly than in the East. 

 The dry air and sunshine tend to ripen all growth quickly 

 and to produce short jointed wood with shorter stems, 

 with flowers a little under the Eastern size, but with good 

 color and better keeping qualities than those produced with 

 less sunshine. 



It is quite the common thing to admit that a grower 

 will be handicapped by difference in soil and climate if he 

 moves from England to Massachusetts, or from the Atlantic 

 to Ohio or Indiana; yet the difference in conditions between 

 any of these points is not so great as between either of these 

 localities and the Rocky Mountain region. Except in a 

 few limited areas the whole of this country east of Kansas 

 and Nebraska is less than a thousand feet above sea level, 



