Part II. DIANTHUS. 193 



"border-flowers. The plant occurs in a wild state on old castles 

 and city walls in various parts of England, and more abundantly 

 in similar places in the West of France, the flowers of the wild 

 form being usually purple or white. Cultivated from time 

 immemorial, it has given rise to the various races above named, 

 and to innumerable varieties of these, of almost every colour, 

 blue excepted. The varieties of Carnations alone numbered 

 as many as 400 more than 150 years ago, and numbers have 

 been raised since in this country, where it is not, and never 

 was, so popular as in Italy and Germany. The Carnation is 

 divided by florists into classes, according to the markings of the. 

 flower. Thus we have scarlet, crimson, pink, and purple bizarres 

 when the flowers are irregularly marked with two colours- on a 

 white ground, one colour, however, predominating ; purple, scar- 

 let, and rose flakes, striped distinctly and largely with one colour 

 on a white ground ; and Picotees, with serrated edges, and 

 usually a beautiful margin of colour. The fine old Clove Carna- 

 tion is more deliciously sweet than any of the others, and it 

 should be in every garden, as should the white Clove, of which 

 there are now several varieties. 



The Carnation and Picotee are best propagated by layers in 

 the month of August. The florists do not consider two-year-old 

 plants good enough to furnish what are called exhibition blooms, 

 but for ornamental purposes they are better than young plants ; 

 and even old tufts in a suitable spot on rockwork, &c. will 

 furnish good flowers for years. But, • generally speaking, it is 

 when the plants are about two years of age that they are most 

 valuable for general garden decoration. The masses of flowers 

 they then furnish are most pleasing to look at, and very useful 

 for cutting from. In fact, wherever many flowers are required 

 for in-door decoration, the various kinds of Pinks are worth 

 growing to a considerable extent, merely for the sake of cutting 

 their flowers, even if they are not desired as flower-garden orna- 

 ments. The special beds where the florists' kinds may receive 

 attention should be in the kitchen-garden or some by-spot, but 

 the miscellaneous kinds may be judiciously planted in the mixed 

 border, and will there prove highly ornamental. From the 

 borders, when they, get a little scraggy, as they are wont to 

 do when a few years old, they must be removed, and the stock 

 kept up with young plants. Therefore it is desirable to propa- 

 gate a few score Pinks and Carnations every year. Almost every 



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