12 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



February, 1909 



fertilizer, dropping a big pinch at each spot 

 where a plant is to go. This is beneficial 

 to root action and helps the plant to establish 

 itself quickly. After you finish planting,water 

 each plant separately to settle the soil around 

 the roots, using a sprinkling pot, and remem- 

 ber that carnations are not aquatics. 



To provide against any accidents I always 

 pot up a few extra plants at the same time; 

 they can be used later for filling in any 

 blanks where plants have for some reason 

 succumbed. 



Until the plants have started to make 

 roots in their new quarters, keep the sun off 

 the plants. This will take about one week, 

 and can be told by the fresh appearance of 

 the foliage. Painting the glass with plain 

 whitewash will afford good shade. The 

 enemy to look out for now is rust, a fungus 

 that attacks the plants, showing red-brown 

 pustules on the leaves. To avoid this, do not 

 let the house get hot and stuffy and then 

 suddenly cool at night. Keep the house 

 as cool as possible during the day, opening 

 all doors and ventilators, and be sure to 

 have them dry at night; don't let the tem- 

 perature fall below 20 degrees. 



From the time of planting keep on spray- 

 ing the plants, and if a leaf shows any sign 

 of rust, pick it off and burn it. The rust 

 will be found most prevalent among the 

 scarlet and crimson varieties. 



The plants can stand some direct sun- 

 shine in about a week. Don't take all the 

 shade off the house at one time, but remove 

 a little every day with a dry brush. After 

 the plants are well established and making 

 growth they need supporting. For the 

 amateur, growing only a few plants, the 

 individual wire supports sold by the sun- 

 dries man will be found very handy. They 

 are effective and neat, and may be stored 

 away after use for a future occasion. All 

 kinds of supports are offered, and the 

 reader must make his own choice according 

 to fancy. All that is really necessary is to 

 keep the shoots from sprawling over the soil, 

 and so admit air and light to the base which 

 otherwise would become too damp. 



For a number of plants this scheme works 

 well, and is inexpensive: Stretch a wire in 

 back of the bench about six inches above the 



The form of the flower depends largely on the calyx 

 The longer reaching it is the less inclined to burst 



soil, stretch other wires between each plant 

 lengthwise of the bench and also one on the 

 outside. Tie strings to the back wire, 

 stretch them to the front wire, lapping each 

 intervening wire with the string, and each 

 string should be between the rows of plants. 

 Thus each plant will be in a square space. 

 Another series of wires, etc., must be drawn 

 about eight inches above the first to support 

 the flower stalks. 



As the flowering time approaches you will 

 find by investigating that the benches are 

 crowded with roots, and extra feeding may 

 be done. I like cow-manure water given 

 once a week. Any other liquid manure or 

 guano or soluble fertilizer can be used. 

 Nitrate of soda (using a four-inch potful to 

 a barrel of water) once every two weeks is 

 very beneficial. But do not feed in excess 

 of these directions. 



Toward the end of January apply a mulch 

 of equal parts of bone meal, sheep manure, 

 and soil. About one inch of this should be 

 applied to the benches. Go over the plants 

 every week and pick off all yellow or diseased 

 leaves, and scratch the surface of the soil - 



but if the roots are near the surface and there 

 is danger of injuring them, the benches 

 should be hand weeded instead. 



Toward April the season nears its end, as a 

 rule. The sun gets very strong, and colors 

 of the flowers bleach, but if shaded good 

 flowers can be cut up to the end of June. 

 Painting the glass for shade would make 

 the plants soft and lanky because of insuffi- 

 cient light. So I make a lattice work of 

 shingle laths and plaster laths. Lay two 

 shingle laths about three feet apart, and nail 

 the plaster laths to these crosswise, leaving 

 the width of a lath between each two. This 

 still admits enough light to ripen the wood 

 and insure healthy growth. 



Now as to temperatures: The carnation, 

 as has been said, is a "cool" plant, and the 

 aim must be to keep the temperature at from 

 50 degrees to 55 degrees. During the day 

 the temperature can be let run up to 65 

 degrees on bright days when the ventilators 

 are open, or even 70 degrees won't hurt them ; 

 but on dull days, when the fires are the only 

 means of heat, do not let the temperature 

 exceed 60 degrees. This is imperative for 

 large flowers, bright colors, and stiff stems. 



Flowers in abundance will be ready by 

 December. Some attention must be given 

 to gathering them. Do it every day, taking 

 them when about three-quarters expanded, 

 letting them open fully in water in a cool, 

 darkened place. Never use a knife; break 

 the stems. You can tell the condition 

 of the plant by the way the stalks break. 

 If they break clean, with a snap, all is well; 

 but if they are soft and sappy, and you have 

 almost to tear the stem in two, there is some- 

 thing wrong — either too much heat or 

 poor soil. 



What varieties do I recommend? To 

 answer this fully I must know where you 

 live. Certain varieties do best in certain 

 zones, and, with very few exceptions, are 

 not interchangeable. It is fortunate for 

 the amateur, however, that some few, of 

 pretty general adaptation, are also among 

 the most pleasing and most productive. 

 The amateur wants varieties that are not 

 "croppers," but give flower over the season. 

 My selections, given on page 32, are made 

 with these facts in view. 



Outdoors practically the only attention necessary is cultivation 



Indoors the secret of success is fresh air and low temperature 



