Book IT. 



CARNATION. 



857 



are perfectly dry. The pipings should have a little of the morning sun, but must be shaded from it 

 when the heat becomes considerable ; this will be easily effected by placing mats upon a slight frame 

 of hoops or laths erected over the bed about two feet above it. 



6415. The glasses should be occasionally taken ciffto admit fresh air ; if this material point is neglected, 

 the consequence will be a green mossy appearance on the surface of the earth, and an universal mouldiness 

 amongst the plants, which will destroy them. It requires more skill to know when and how long the 

 pipings should be exposed to the air, while forming root, than for almost any other part of the manage- 

 ment ; on this single point, in great measure, depends the good or ill success of the whole undertaking. 

 It is almost, or perhaps entirely, impossible to lay down any rules that will not be liable, as circumstances 

 may vary, to mislead the inexperienced in the art of piping ; much must depend on the discernment and 

 prudence of the cultivator ; there is no great danger to be apprehended from laking off the glasses for a 

 few minutes, or half an hour, when it is cloudy, and the air rather warm and moist ; but if no opportuni- 

 ties of this kind occur in due time, it should be done early in the morning : and rather than to omit doing 

 it entirely, it will be better to take the glasses off, if it is only for five minutes, turning them upside down 

 on the path, in order to air them, and replacing them again over the plants ; even this will be of great 

 service, though not equal to a more effectual airing at favorable times, which, indeed, becomes more fre- 

 quently necessary in proportion to the length of time the pipings have been upon the bed; but when once 

 they begin to strike fibre, they will soon spindle up and become extremely weak, if not carefully attended 

 to, viz. agreeably to the following directions : when tlieir fibres are formed, which the additional verdure 

 and growth of the plants will demonstrate, the glasses should be placed over them very lightly, in order 

 that more air may be admitted ; and when they become tolerably well rooted, the glasses being no longer 

 necessary, should be entirely taken away : but it seldom happens that all the plants, under the same glass, 

 strike root together ; some are generally a few days or a week forwarder than the rest, as will be apparent 

 by'their superior growth and verdure: such ought to be carefully taken up and planted in small pots, for 

 winter preservation, or they may be planted round the sides of large carnation-pots, filled with the com- 

 post, where they will soon make rapid progress ; the remaining plants which are not sufficiently rooted for 

 removal, must be continued under the glasses, as before directed, till they become so. 



6416. Care of pipings as to run or degenerated flowers. It is necessary to be very careful to mark such 

 pipings as are taken off before it can be ascertained whether the original plant is in true colors, or run (or 

 degenerated) ; because it very seldom happens that the pipings or layers, taken from a run flower, produce 

 any other than run or plain-colored blossoms ; in consequence of which they are not worth the trouble of 

 propagation ; the pipings ought therefore to be so marked as that it may be accurately known from what 

 plant or plants they were taken, in order that if any of the originals should prove foul in color, or run, the 

 increase of such may be distinguished from the rest, and destroyed. The layers and pipings of the most 

 beautifully variegated flowers will frequently produce run blossoms ; but it is impossible to prevent it, 

 especially amongst the rich high-colored sorts, when they grow in a rich compost. 



6417. Some people pipe their carnations at the third joint, but it is better to do it at the second; because, 

 in the first instance, the third joint being more hard and woody, the pipings do not strike root so soon, or 

 form afterwards such handsome plants, as when thev are piped at the second joint from the extremity of 

 the shoot. {Flo. Direct. 202.) 



6418. Hogg considers, that piping the carnation should commence sooner than laying, before the shoot.s 

 get hard and woody ; he begins about the first of July. Plants raised from i)ipings, he considers as sounder, 

 and more likely to encounter the rigors of a sharp winter than layers ; but still as laying is the surest mode, 

 he only makes pipings of such shoots as appear crowded, or too short or too high up the stalk to be laid 

 easily. He plants them on abed of dung of blood warmth, in a compost of one third maiden earth, one 

 third leaf-mould, one third rotten horse-dung, and one sixth sand, finely sifted, that " the cuttings, when 

 stuck in, may enter easily and without injury. The piping should be cut with a sharp pen or budding- 

 knife, at the second or third joint, according to the condition of the shoot ; but the shorter tliebetter. The 

 cut must take place horizontally, close below the joint, and the sheath, or part that covers the joint, must 

 be carefully removed and peeled off. When the pipings are cut, the surface of the bed made flat and level, 

 and gently watered through a fine rose, they may be stuck in three quarters of an inch deep, in rows not 

 too near together. Then let them be watered again, which will help to fix the earth close round them ; 

 the glasses on no account are to be shut down close till they are dry, or they will inevitably fog, rot, and 

 perish. The best glasses for piping are those made of the common window-glass, eight inches square and 

 six inches deep, and the less air they contain the sooner will the cuttings strike root. The striking-glasses 

 in common use, v.'hich are blown for the purpose, too often contain such a thick body of glass as to concen- 

 trate the sun's rays, and scorch the pipings. They require shading only when the sun is out, and then 

 with a net or old mat, to admit the glimmering of his rays. If the weather continues dry and hot, they 

 will require to be watered occasionally with a fine rose, early in a morning, over the glasses, which, for 

 one fortnight at least, need not be removed if they are doing well. After, you may take them off from 

 time to time as you see occasion, for half an hour or so in a morning, to give fresh air, and dry the glasses ; 

 and if any of the pipings appear mildewed or rotten, pull them up. At the end of six weeks they will be 

 sufficiently rooted to be transplanted into small pots or a prepared bed, over which it would be advisable to 

 place a frame and lights for aweek or ten days, till they take root again. There they may be allowed to 

 remain till the middle or so of September. In taking them up, if you find any not rooted, but sound, an;! 

 their ends hard and callow, do not let them remain upon the same spot, but remove them to anolher bed, 

 with a little temporary heat, and cover them with glasses as before ; this will not fail to start them and 

 hasten their fibring." {Treatise, &c. 52.) 



6419. Bijseed. Carnation-seed is rather difficult to raise or ripen in this country, owing to the moisture 

 and cold of the autumnal months. It is generally procured from Vienna and different towns of Sv/itzer- 

 land ; and if put in vials and well corked will keep for years. To raise it in this country, Maddcck gives 

 the following directions : " Those flowers which have but few petals, or, as it is more commonly expressed, 

 are thin of leaf, genenilly produce most seed, and therefore are most to be depended on for a supj)ly ; hut 

 they should be possessed of the best properties in other respects, viz. their petals should be large, broad, sub- 

 stantial, and perfectly entire at the edge, and their colors rich and regularly distributed, and in due propor- 

 tion, throughout the whole blossom. The plants should be selected from the rest, and their pots should 

 stand upon a stage, defended against earwigs, in an open part of the garden, in which situation they should 

 remain during bloom, and until the seed is perfectly matured ; their blossoms should be defended from 

 rain, by having glass, paper, or tin covers {fig. 612. d), suspended over them, in such a manner as to adir.ifc 

 a free circulation of air ; the pots should neither be kept very wet nor very dry ; nor will it be proper to cut 

 and mutilate the plants, either for their layers or pipings, till the seed becomes r!i)e, because it would cer- 

 tainly weaken them, and consequently injure, if not destroy, their seed. When thebloom is over, and Ihe 

 petals become withered and dry, they should be carefully drawn out of the pod or calyx, being aijt to retain 

 a degree of moisture at their base, endangering a m.ouldiness and decay in that part which will destroy the 

 seed. There is another mode of treatment adopted successfully in ripening the seed, which is, v. hen the 

 bloom is over, and the petals begin to decay, they are to be extracted as above, taking particular care to 

 leave the two styles, which appear like horns proceeding from the summit of the germen, or future pericar- 

 pium : the calyx {fig. 610. a) is then to be shortened to about one half of its original length, and an aperture 

 mnde on one side of the remainder, down to the base of the pericarpium, so that no water can possibly 

 lod'^'C there ; but in doing this, great care is necessary not to wound or injure the pericarpium, or seed- 

 vessel itself, because it might prove destructive to the seed. After the above is performed, the covers may 

 remain or be taken away at pleasure ; but in the latter case it is advisable to loosen the upper jiart of the 

 stems from the sticks, that the open end of the calyx may incline a little dovvnwards, the more eficctuallv to 



