172 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1910 



developed chiefly for the perfumery trade. 

 They have the strongest scent. 



I have no greenhouse, hotbed, or cold- 

 frame for my carnations, and all are started 

 from seed. The plants are set into the open 

 ground when about three months old, and 

 there they stay. Some I have positively 

 known to live through five or six seasons. 



I plant the choicest seeds I can get — Red 

 Grenadines, Fancy Picotees, Chabauds, 

 double perpetual improved and Giant Cha- 

 bauds, Perpetuals (florists'), etc. I have 

 not, as yet, tried any of the named varieties, 

 such as Comtesse De Paris, Enfant De Nice, 

 Sparkling, etc., but mean to do so this year. 

 One of the leading American seedsmen tells 

 me: "All carnations are hardy the first 

 season from seed; but as they grow older 

 they become more tender." Yet, I have 

 had plants to live many years and give enor- 

 mous crops of flowers every year. All the 

 varieties I have tried so far have 

 lived, except the Marguerites. 

 These I have tried three seasons. 

 From them I got a few infer- 

 ior flowers in September, and 

 plants have invariably died, 

 while plants of the other vari- 

 eties standing on the same ground, 

 and given the same treatment, 

 have come through the winter 

 in fine condition. 



In March or April I plant 

 my seeds in boxes about 12 x 

 14 x 3 inches deep, exactly in 

 the same manner that one would 

 plant early cabbage plants. 

 They sprout in from five to 

 eight days if left warm, and in 

 about three weeks I transplant 

 to fresh boxes of ordinary garden 

 soil, not too rich, and sifted. 

 The seedlings are as prone to 

 the damping off fungus as any 

 tender seedlings, therefore have 

 to be watched very closely. If 

 I see any signs of plants damp- 

 ing off I transplant at once 

 even though the seeds still 

 cling to the tiny seed leaves. They are 

 very delicate to handle, but anyone who 

 has patience can soon learn just how. In 

 these second boxes plants should be set about 

 one and a half inches apart each way. Like 

 celery, the oftener they are transplanted the 

 better they seem to like it, making large 

 root growth and little top. About the middle 

 of June I set them into the open ground. 

 They may not then be over one and a half 

 inches high, but if given clean cultivation 

 from then on, by fall will be fine, large, 

 stocky plants. I have had spring-sown seeds 

 make fine plants that a half-bushel basket 

 would not cover in September. 



My soil is clay loam, not over rich, but 

 holds moisture well. After setting out the 

 plants I water thoroughly once, and cover 

 each plant with an old quart berry box. 

 Plants should be set twelve inches apart. 

 The baskets or boxes I find the best protec- 

 tion as they give shade, and a plentiful supply 

 of air, and if a stone is placed on each, will 

 not blow away. I leave these over the plants 



three or four days unless it rains. In case 

 it does, I remove the cover, but never water 

 after, no matter how dry the season, only 

 cultivate, hoe, and rake. Of course, I know 

 there are soils where watering might be neces- 

 sary, but water, I find, is their only enemy. 

 If placed in a situation where water may 

 stand around or near the roots, they will 

 rot, at any season. This rot, of course, 

 is most likely to occur in early spring, 

 although last July, when plants were loaded 

 with buds and blossoms, we had nearly two 

 weeks of cold, wet weather in which I lost 

 nearly one-third of my plants by this means. 

 Therefore, one should be very careful to 

 plant on high ground, and also not to set 

 the plants too low in the ground. A little too 

 high is far better than a little too low. They 

 have a long tap root, sometimes twelve inches 

 long. Yet the plants themselves, when not 

 in bloom, seldom exceed six inches in height. 



my plants are set in rows four feet apart and 

 cultivated with a horse, same as the berry 

 bushes beside them, and kept well hoed. 

 I sometimes use a little bone meal, plenty of 

 unbleached wood ashes, which give long, 

 stiff stems and brilliancy of color, and, when 

 I can get it, well-rotted stable manure, which 

 is free from straw. They like a very compact 

 soil, therefore do not need the straw or other 

 lightening material. 



I have tried rooting cuttings in the open 

 ground in August. They grow and survive, 

 but give so few flowers I find it a very poor 

 practice unless one has something very choice 

 one wishes to save. 



I think I have covered all of the subject 

 except the flowers themselves. These I have 

 had in every known color of carnations 

 except green. The form of some will be 

 poor. These I cast aside with the single 

 ones, filling their places with young plants. 

 The size ranges from one and 

 three-quarters to two inches in 

 diameter. Yet I have had 

 Chabauds two and a half inches, 

 of the most perfect form and 

 fragrance. 



These Chabauds bloom in 

 six months from seed for me, 

 and if one could start seed very 

 early, they would give quan- 

 tities of flowers the first season. 

 They are the only carnations I 

 know, except Marguerites, that 

 bloom before the second sum- 

 mer. Their season lasts about 

 six weeks or a little more if 

 one is very careful in picking the 

 flowers. But in such profusion 

 one almost wonders they can 

 live through the blooming. I 

 have had a single plant so large 

 a bushel basket could not be 

 turned over it to cover it, and 

 fully 200 hundred flowers from 

 one plant in a season. But not 

 all are such profuse bloomers. 



For mass effects the single pinks are unsurpassed — and fragrant too 



In the Fruit Garden 



As the plants grow older, they winter-kill 

 more easily. Therefore, I plant seed enough 

 each spring to fill all vacancies and thus 

 keep up the supply of plants. I have 

 raised these plants continuously for ten 

 years, and have never but once been without 

 from 250 to 300 plants except in 1903. That 

 winter I lost every plant I had; but it was 

 a time when everyone did the same. 



Concerning mulching, I have found man- 

 ure too heating. Straw seems too attractive 

 to. mice. Evergreen boughs are the very 

 best mulch, as they do not hold moisture and 

 do hold plenty of snow and ice usually until 

 really growing weather sets in, and still 

 give plenty of protection from cold. If these 

 cannot be procured, a shingle firmly set at 

 the northwest side of each plant will serve 

 as well as anything. These, too, are not 

 always convenient, and I have had plants 

 go through several seasons without being 

 mulched at all or any other protection; but 

 it is not the safest way. 



As I grow for flowers and not for effect, 



FINISH pruning in the orchard as soon 

 as possible. Graft over poor trees with 

 selected scions of better varieties. If you 

 have a good, strong-growing tree it is better 

 to graft it than to cut it down. 



If planting new orchards,. consider the ad- 

 vantages of the low-headed tree rather than 

 the tall one. Or better still, plant on the filler 

 system advocated by Mr. Powell in theMarch 

 Garden Magazine. Remember that plant- 

 ing an orchard differs from planting a 

 vegetable garden; you can remedy the errors 

 in the latter next year, but you do not get 

 the first fruits from an orchard for several 

 years. Therefore, very carefully consider 

 your needs and plant exactly what you want. 

 It is wise to pay the best prices for high 

 quality nursery stock. Good young apple 

 trees are very scarce now and correspondingly 

 high priced. 



Prune blackberries. Draw off, pile up 

 and burn the brush. Make a wire trellis 

 to train the bushes on. Wire lasts longer 

 than wood and is not so cumbersome. 



