THE CLOVJi CARNATION. 116 



and yet Perdita, in the " Winter's Tale," which was written 

 in 1601, speaks of "streaked gilivors," not as thinf^^s 

 hardly kno.vn, but as old inhabitants of the garden ; for 

 Shakespeare did not weaken his sentiment by appealing to 

 facts with which his auditors were imfamiliar. One thing 

 is certain, however, that in the year 1629 John Parkinson 

 Iiad a large collection, and they comprised all the classes 

 now cultivated, with the single exception of the picotee. 



In the cultivati(jn of the exhibition carnations, a loamy 

 soil, enriched with thoroughly rotted manure anil vegetable 

 mould, is of the first importance ; and all possible precau- 

 tions should be taken to exclude or to trap wire-worms, 

 which are their greatest enemies. The plants are propa- 

 gated from seeds, layers, and pipings. The beginner will 

 find it easier to commence by raising a stock from seed, the 

 projier time to sow which is the month of May. 



But layering is requisite for the 2)erpetuation of trained 

 varieties, and the art may be fully aeipiired with the prac- 

 tice of one season. The steps and stages of the process are 

 as follow : — A suitable shoot is first brought down to the 

 ground, and fixed by means of a peg cut from a hazel twig 

 or the common bracken. The operatin' having thus far 

 obtained command of it, puts the peg aside, and then 

 removes the lowest leaves from the sho(,)t, so as to leave the 

 three topmost joints with their leaves intact. He now 

 cuts the shoot half through, just below the third joint, 

 and then turns the knife aside to carry it upwards along 

 the middle of the shoot to about half an inch from (that 

 is to say, beyond) the joint. The result will be the forma- 

 tion of what is called a tongue, which will include a portion 

 of the joint. The greater part of this tongue is removed ; 

 but it is important that the joint portion of it should be 



