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Lift the plants from outdoors in August, taking all soil possible with the roots. Note how the spade is used to secure this result; plunging down. 



deeply and then prying over 



The Best All-around Flower of Winter -By w. c. McCollom, 



New 

 York 



CARNATION CULTURE FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE AMATEUR WITH A SMALL GREENHOUSE — POINTS HE 

 MUST OBSERVE IN MANAGEMENT TO HAVE FLOWERS ALL THE SEASON — BEST VARIETIES FOR GENERAL CULTIVATION 



CARNATIONS are the most popular 

 of all greenhouse plants for cut 

 flowers during winter for the following 

 well-founded reasons : First, the colors 

 are of such purity as to please the 

 most critical, and are sufficiently diverse 

 to suit all purposes of decoration; second, 

 the flowers are borne on long stems which 

 make them valuable as cut flowers; third, 

 their fragrance is of a delicious, clove- 

 like odor; fourth, the carnation is a good 

 keeper and a good shipper. This is im- 

 portant when you think what a very small 

 percentage of the flowers used are grown 

 near big cities. Fifth, no great heat is 

 required, about 55 degrees and plenty of 

 fresh air giving the best results. Can you 

 think of another flower that answers all 

 these requirements? 



Now, although the largest interest in car- 

 nation growing is the commercial florist's, I 

 am going to tell the amateur owner of a 

 small greenhouse how he can produce better 

 and larger flowers than he can buy. The 

 florist measures his results in the return of 

 so many cents per square foot of space, as 

 a rule; we will look rather for superlative 

 quality. Nor is it necessary to devote an 

 entire house to the one flower. A dozen 



plants in a house with other favorites can be 

 so managed as to yield all one may desire, 

 if the needs of the carnations are kept in 

 mind at all times and they are made the 

 controlling factors in management. 



The present time is the height of the 

 season for carnations, for they produce 

 flowers most freely in February, and cuttings 

 may best be taken just a little earlier. 

 True, they can be propagated almost any 

 time of the year, but from December to the 

 end of January is the best. It is very im- 

 portant that the cuttings be taken from 

 flowering stems. Take them low down, 

 where they are about three inches long, or 

 break them off to that length. Place them 

 in a sand propagating bed (which has been 

 previously prepared by hard pounding) 

 about one-half inch apart, in the sun, with 

 about two inches between the rows, and 

 again pound the sand firm around the 

 cuttings. Water them with a watering-pot 

 and rose spray to settle the sand, and shade 

 from strong light until they have started 

 to emit roots. This will be in from two to 

 four weeks, according to the kind of cutting, 

 temperature of beds, etc. 



The rooted cuttings are potted in two-inch 

 pots, using a rather light soil and one which 



has no fresh manure of any kind in it. If 

 your soil is heavy, add some sand for the 

 first potting. The plants should then be 

 placed in a light house and watered care- 

 fully until they are established. 



About three or four weeks after the first 

 potting a second one will be necessary. For 

 this use the soil from a compost heap, and a 

 four-inch pot is about the right size. The 

 one great caution needed here is ample 

 drainage, for carnations are especially resent- 

 ful of "wet feet," meaning roots in standing 

 moisture. Be very careful even about 

 watering at all in the larger pot until they 

 have started to grow. Look over them 

 carefully, picking out and watering only 

 the plants that are dry — don't water them 

 all because one or two are dry. By the 

 time the plants are well rooted in the four- 

 inch pots it will be about time to think of 

 planting them out. Some say plant in the 

 field, others in the house, and a few insist 

 that the best way is to plant in deep boxes 

 and place out of doors. I prefer to plant in 

 the field because the plants then require far 

 less care, and the check they receive when 

 lifted does not amount to anything. One 

 carnation grower claims that different varie- 

 ties behaved differently under similar 



Open a hole in the soil with the 

 left hand, holding plant in the right 

 hand, ready to set 



Insert the plant just as it comes 

 from outside. Note the proper 

 depth with all soil attached 



Firm the soil around the plants, 

 using fingers and knuckles (not the 

 fist) and the thumb at the coUar 



Finally level the surface about the 

 newly set plant and water just to set- 

 tle the sou. Don't over-water 



10 



