POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



419 



be taken up and stored in a dry shed or cellar 

 until the following spring. Another plan is to 

 take them up before the cold injures them, 

 potting them and keeping them in flower with 

 heat throughout the winter. They can also, 

 when grown in pots, be cut down and liberally 

 treated to encourage young growth in a warm 

 light house, where they make good indoor 

 winter-flowering plants. 



The following is a short list of the best 

 varieties, which include all colours — red, sal- 

 mon, rose, orange, pure -yellow, and an ap- 

 proach to white: — 



Alliance. 



Alphonse Bouvier. 



Amie J. Chretien. 



Antoine Chantin. 



Aurora. 



Beaute Poitevine. 



Chicago. 



Comte de Bouchaud. 



Conquerant. 



Dr. Doleris. 



Duke of Marlborough. 



Franz Buchner. 



Germania. 



1 Kaiser Wilhelm II. 

 Maid of Guernsey. 

 Mme. Crozy. 

 Mme. Pichon. 

 Paul Lorenz. 

 Paul Marquant. 

 Prof. Gerard. 

 Queen Charlotte. 

 Robert Christie. 

 Sister Dora. 



Souvenir d'Antoine Crozy. 

 Souvenir de President Car- 

 not. 



[G. P.] 



Carnation and Picotee (Dianthus Caryo- 

 phyllus). — Among the few plants of our native 

 flora that have become popular as florists' 

 flowers the Carnation holds a foremost place. 

 Compared with its garden progeny the type is 

 small and unattractive. It grows plentifully 

 on the walls of Rochester Castle. Cultivated 

 varieties were known to Gerard in 1598, when 

 they were grown in pots and protected in 

 winter. Thirty years later Parkinson in his 

 Paradisus mentioned twenty-nine varieties, in- 

 cluding one called Daintie Lady, identical with 

 the Painted Lady of modern fanciers. In 

 1824 Thomas Hogg published a classified 

 list of varieties. He was the first to separate 

 the Picotee from the Carnation. According to 

 his descriptions there was as great a range of 

 variation in the colours of the flowers as there 

 is now. Many of the varieties were of German 

 origin. Mr. Martin R. Smith has raised many 

 seedlings and has produced some new types, the 

 Malmaison seedlings being the greatest advance 

 during recent years. Their colours are princi- 

 pally crimson and rose of various shades. 



In selecting plants for seeds or for breeding 

 purposes avoid all with a short calyx, which 

 are likely to split. Flowers that are crowded 

 with small petals are also objectionable, as 

 they invariably burst the calyx by expansion. 

 The selected plants should be placed together 



for convenience of manipulation. The begin- 

 ning of July is the most favourable time for 

 crossing. The horn-shaped styles of the Car- 

 nation are attached to the apex of the ovary, 

 and they rapidly develop as the flowers 

 expand; when in a receptive condition they 

 are slightly curled, and furnished with deli- 

 cate fine hairs or down. The pollen, which 

 is produced on the petals, is generally in a 

 powdery state about mid-day. It should be 

 gathered on to a fine camel-hair brush and 

 gently placed on the hairy pistils. It is well 

 to touch the same flowers with pollen two or 

 three days in succession to ensure fertilization. 

 In wet weather the pollen is lumpy and quite 

 unfit for use. As the petals fade pull them 

 out, or they may cause the seed-pod to decay. 

 Seeds ripen in September from flowers fertilized 

 in July. As soon as the seed-pods become 

 brownish and slightly open at the top, they 

 may be gathered and dried. In Britain seeds 

 can seldom be matured out-of-doors ; an airy 

 glass house where the plants are fully exposed 

 to all the light they can obtain being most 

 suitable. 



Sow the seed in March or April in pans on 

 a hot-bed, where it will germinate in about 

 eight days, and in another eight days the young 

 plants may be pricked into boxes or frames. 

 In June or July they will be ready to plant 

 out where they are to flower the following 

 season. The soil should be deep and rich: and 

 the plants require to be planted about a foot 

 apart. 



Layering. — This should be done in July 

 and August, whether the plants are grown 

 in pots or in the border. The "grass", or 

 young growths produced at the base of the 

 plants, form the layers, and the stronger they 

 are the better. Three or four pairs of the lower 

 leaves should be removed. The best layering 

 knife has a two-edged, very thin blade, which 

 is thrust through the joint about the middle 

 and pressed downwards, bringing it out just 

 below the joint. The layers should be pegged 

 down with wood pegs into a compost of loam, 

 leaf-mould, and sand, and kept moderately moist. 

 By the end of September they will have rooted, 

 and may be removed and potted or planted 

 out. Those planted in pots should be placed 

 near the glass in a cold frame, keeping the 

 lights rather close for a few days, after which 

 more air may be admitted, and in ten days or 

 so the lights may be pulled off altogether on 

 fine days, replacing them at night, but tilting 

 them at the back of the frame. The choicer 



