8C0 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



that state, very liable to contract a destructive mildew, if they have not the benefit of a free circulation 

 ot air ; this mildew makes its first appearance in purple spots on the foliage, which can only be cured or 

 prevented from spreading amongst the adjacent plants, by cutting out the infected part, or removing the 

 pot, as soon as discovered, it being not improbable but that the distemper is, in great measure, owing to 

 a very minute insect, brought into existence by the warmth generated at such times. Plants thus infected 

 have been frequently known to communicate the contagion to others which stand near them, therefore 

 no time shou'd be lost in cutting off the spotted leaves or removing the plants to a distant part of the 

 garden. A repository, constructed in the manner already described, is less liable to the above effects than 

 any close frame or situation can possibly be, because it has the advantage of a free circulation of air at 

 all times, even when shut up, unless indeed when closely covered up with mats, &c. as in cases of severe 

 frost ; but at such times no such consequences are to be dreaded. 



6437. The rains of autumn and winter are generally 7nore than siifficient for carnations, as well as for 

 auriculas, from an excess of which it is pi-oper to defend them : of the two extremes, it is safer to keep 

 them rather too dry than too wet at these seasons, especially during winter; but a moderate degree of 

 moisture is always to be preferred, except when the weather is severely frosty. As too long a deprivation 

 of hght is at all times prejudicial to plants, therefore, whenever the winter repository is required to be 

 closely covered up with mats, for several days and nights, with little intermission, no opportunity should 

 be lost during the middle of the day, if the sun shines, to take off the mats in front ot the glasses, in 

 order to admit its light and warmth. Whenever the surface of the earth in the pots becomes green with 

 moss, or too compact and adhesive, it will be proper to stir it up carefully, about half an inch deep, and 

 to sprinkle a little coarse dry sand regularly upon it : this will prevent any great degree of tenacity in fu- 

 ture, and be of great service ; it may be repeated as often as required. 



6438. In spring, the pots will probably require to be frequently watered, and by the middle of March 

 the operation of potting is to commence, as already described. The blossoms of carnations, particularly 

 the high-colored sorts, are very apt to run from their striped or variegated colors to a plain one ; they are 

 then esteemed of little or no value : but when they have only partially run, they may sometimes be re- 

 covered to their former state, by being planted in a poor dry soil, that will but just aftbrd sufficient nour- 

 ishment for their existence. (Florist's Direct. 166.) 



6439. Hogg having potted his blooming plants, supports .them with green sticks, in the manner of 

 Maddock, and top-dresses about the middle of June " with about half an inch of rotten horse-dung passed 

 through a sieve, which he finds materially to assist the plants, and promote the growth of the layers, on 

 which depends the preservation of the collection. Many," he says, " top-dress with some of the hotter 

 manures of night-soil, sugar-baker's scum, &c., but, in my opinion, that is not necessary for carnations, 

 and is attended with danger : for, if they are not reduced to a perfect mould, they will corrode, and burn 

 the plants." He waters freely while the pods are swelling, and during tlie whole time they continue in 

 blossom. As soon as the side shoots appear, he places " a paper collar round the bottom of the blossom 

 to support it. These collars are made of white card-paper, in the form of a circle of three or four inches 

 in diameter (fig. 612. g), with a hole in the centre just large enough to admit the calyx or pod, without much 

 compressing, and witii a cut extending from the centre to the outside or circumference, like the radius of 

 a circle. On these cards the flower is preserved in shape and form a long time ; on these the petals are 

 also finely disposed, and the beauty of the carnation displ.iyed to great advantage." We must confess, we 

 think these collars a great deformity, and much prefer a tie of thread or bass mat, or the slip of bladder 

 recommended by Maddock. When placed on the stage, they should have the benefit of the morning sun 

 till about nine or ten o'clock, according to the intense heat of its rays; the same in the evening, with as 

 much open exposure to the air at all times as you can give them, without injury to the bloom." In winter 

 Hogg preserves them in frames, in the same manner as he recommends for auriculas. When he has 

 more plants than he can blow in pots, he plants them in beds of the same compost used for the others, pro- 

 tecting them from severe frosts and heavy rains, and in other respects treating them in the same nKiUuer 

 as if in pots. {Treatise, &c.) 



SuBSECT. 18. Fink. — Dianthus hortensis, L. Decan. Trig. L. and Caryophyllece, J. 

 Vceillet, Fr. ; Nelke, Ger. ; and Garofano, Ital. (fg. 611. b) 

 6440. The pink is considered by many to be a subspecies of the J), caryophijllus ; and 

 by others to have proceeded from D. deltoides, a Briti.sh species, and the pheasant-eye 

 pinks from D. phonnrius. This flower, Professor Marfcyn observes, does not seem to 

 have attracted any notice among our ancestors ; and it is only within the latter half of 

 the 18th century that pinks were much improved and varied, so as to be greatly valued 

 among florists. It is now much cultivated everywhere, and especially in the manufactur- 

 ing districts ; in the neighborhood of Paisley, it is carried to a high degree of perfection. 

 (See Part IV. Book I. Ch. III. Sec. 3.) The pink is much hardier than the carnation, 

 and less liable to the casualties incident to the latter. 



6411. Varieties. Parkinson, in 1629, mentions six or eight sorts. Rea, in 1704, says, there are many 

 sorts, but of little esteem. Plogg, in 1820, gives a list of nearly one hundred, names, as containing the best 

 sorts in England ; but Davey, who has raised more fine varieties of this flower than any one else, has above 

 double that number ; and the Paisley growers reckon above three hundred sorts. 



6442. Criterion of a fine double pink. " The stem should be strong, elastic, and erect, and not less than 

 twelve inches high. The calyx rather smaller and shorter, but nearly similar in form and proportion to 

 that of a carnation, as well as the formation of the flower, which should not he less than two inches and a 

 half in diameter. The petals should be large, broad, and substantial, and have very fine fringed or serrated 

 edges, free from large, coarse, deep notches or indentures ; in short, they approach nearest to perfection 

 when the fringe on the edge is so fine as scarcely to be discernible ; but it would be considered a very de- 

 sirable object to obtain them perfectly rose-leaved, i. e. without any fringe at all. The broadest part of the 

 lamina, or broad end of the petals {fig,- 611. c), should be perfectly white and distinct from the eye, unless it 

 be a laced pink, that is, ornamented by a continuation of the color of the eye round it {fig. 611. i), bold, 

 clean, and distinct, leaving a considerable proportion of white in the centre, perfectly free from any tinge 

 or spot. The eye should consist of a bright or dark rich crimson, or purple, resembling velvet ; but the 

 nearer it approaches to black, the more it is esteemed ; its proportion should be about equal to that of the 

 white, that it may neither appear too large nor too small." {Maddock.) 



6443. P}-opagation. Generally by pipings for ordinary purposes, sometimes by layers to preserve rare 

 sorts, and by seed for new varieties. 



6444. 3y pipings. The time to commence this operation is immediately previous to or during the bloom, 

 or indeed as soon as ever the new shoots are grown of a sufficient length for that purpose. Hogg com- 

 mences about tfhe twenty-first of June. The operation is the same as in piping carnations ; only some do 

 not apply bottom, heat. This, however, is the more certain mode, and the pipings are ready to remove 

 sooner, and generally in a fortnight or three weeks. 



6445. Bt/ seed. Proceed as directed for carnations. 



6446. Nicol has found great advantage from impregnating double and semi-double pinks* with single 

 kinds, both in respect to fecundating more stamens, and producing in consequence more seed ; but also in 

 increasing the varieties, or new sorts raised from such seed. {Caled. Sec. Me?n. iii. 270.) 



