April, 19 U 



These l"i>;"urcs which 1 will jiro- 

 coe<l to j^ive you of the productive- 

 ness of the so-calloil standard \ .iri- 

 eties are compiled from an accur- 

 ate record of each day's cut of 

 blooms, and is absolutely free from 

 jjuess work. No account was kept 

 of (lowers cut before they had at- 

 tained character enou<;li to be mar- 

 ketable. Of sorts that are accus- 

 tomed to " split " we have kept a 

 separate record and were able to 

 tell at tile end of the season 

 the i)ercentage of imperfect flow^- 

 ers. 



WTiite Wonder heads the list for 

 productiveness with an average of 

 16.6 good flowers, and i.l faulty 

 ones per plant. 



From that grand old variety 

 Enchantress which, with its long 

 list of sports, constitute over 50 

 per cent, of the total plantings of 

 carnations in this country, the 

 peld was 14.6 perfect blooms per 

 plant and 2.8 with split calyces but" 

 saleable flowers. From' white En- 

 chantress our yield was 16 perfect 

 flowers and 1.6 "bursts" per 

 plant. 



Next comes Beacon with a yield 

 of 14.2 perfect and 2.4 split flow- 

 ers, and Mrs. C. W. Ward with an 

 average of 12.3 blooms. 



Taking afl these varieties and 

 others into account, the average 

 per plant was a fraction leiss than 

 15 blooms and in addition to this 

 an average of 2 cuttings from each 

 plant. 



Now just a few words as to the 

 cost of producing these 15 blooms. 

 The plant upon which these flow- 



ers were grown ocicupied X of a 

 square ft. of the entire ground sur- 

 face covered by glass. The recog- 

 nized market \alue of a strong 

 healthy carnation plant at the time 

 of benching is, say 6 cents. The 

 cost for coal last winter to grow 

 that plant was 2.3 cents. Ten 

 cents, was expended on the labor 

 on that plant to make possible 

 its required production of blooms. 

 3.4 cents represents that plant's 

 share of the interest on the invest- 

 ment. 2 cents was the tax on the 

 plant for shipping cases, fertiHizer, 

 soil, repairs, and other small in.ci- 

 dentals. Not until the plant in 

 question earned 23.7 cents net did 

 it begin to " bring home the ba- 

 con." 



4 . 



New Gardens. 



As soon as we get a good rain 

 a start ican be made in the laying 

 out of new gardens. After the 

 beds have been marked out accord- 

 ing to a prepared design they 

 should be dug deeply or trench- 

 ed, the latter for preference. Then 

 spread over the surface a four-inch 

 layer of good old manure, if pro- 

 curable, and dig the ground a 

 second time, taking a little more 

 care to have the surface level and 

 fine. Time permitting, it will do 

 the bed good to dig it a third 

 time before planting. This ensures 

 the thorough incorporation of the 

 manure with the soil, pulverising of, 

 the soil, and its aeration (the ef- 

 fects of the atmosphere on the soil 

 are very striking, as far as the in- 

 crease of fertilising properties upon 

 the plants are concerned),. Every 

 time the bed is dug the fork should 

 be driven a little deeper, so that 

 graduallv your ground is " trench- 

 ed," without that operation being 

 actually performed. 



<$> 



Primroses. 



The primula tribe includes the 

 polyanthus, primrose (English), 

 cowslip, etc. Seed of these plant- 

 ed now will flower in the spring. 

 These dwarf herbaceous perennials 

 form a very pretty edging to a 

 bed, but require to be taken up 

 when their blooming season is over, 

 and placed in some cool shadv spot 

 during- the hot weather. In this, 

 as with other things, it pays to 

 buy the very best seed. To raise 

 the seed, put a handful of broken 

 potsherds into the bottom of a 

 five-inch pot or a seed pan for 

 drainage, and fill with a compost 



made of very old cowdung, leaf- 

 mould, and a good loanu, with a 

 moderate portion of silver sand. 

 Make the surface quite even, and 

 water with a fine-rosed can so as 

 to soak it through ; let it drain 

 for an hour ; then sow the seed 

 thinlv over the surface, and cover 

 to the thickness of a shilling, 

 cover lightly with some moss, and 

 place a square of glass over all. 

 Very little, if any, watering will 

 be needed till the plants are up. 

 By the time the seedlings have 

 several leaves prick them into pots 

 containing a similar soil. 



^ 



Cyclamen. 



Cyclamen are easily raised from 

 seed, if the seed be fresh, but it 

 sometimes comes up very unevenly, 

 some germinating in a lew weeks, 

 some taking one or two months. 

 When the little plants appear give 

 as much light as possible to pre- 

 vent them becoming lanky, and 

 when large enough to handle, prick 

 them out into another box con- 

 taining a good (Sandy loam, plac- 

 ing them about two inches apart. 

 They will form in these, corms half 

 an inch in diameter. Transplant 

 into pots, well drained and filled 

 with a compost of leaf-mould and 

 rich loam. Like most plants of 

 this charaicter, the cyclamen re- 

 quires a season of rest, after the 

 blooming period. When this is 

 over, renovate the soil in the fol- 

 lowing manner : — Knock the edge 

 of the pot on the side of the 

 potting bench, so that the plant, 

 soil, and drainage come out to- 

 gether. Brush away the drainage 

 and a part of the soU below the 

 roots, and also scrape away the 

 soil from the top, until the whole 

 of the corm is exposed, and the 

 onlv earth still adhering will be 

 that covering the roots. A fresh 

 pot, a size larger, should then be 

 prepared, by placing in it one or 

 two inches of drainage and a layer 

 of fresh compost. Replant the 

 corm, filling up with more com- 

 post, until only half the corm is 

 exposed. Give a good watering 

 to start growth. 



^ 



" Have you ever noted," began 

 the bald gentleman, who liked to 

 entertain the people gathered in 

 his corner of the hotel piazza, 

 " that little men invariably marry 

 large women ? " " It may be so," 

 murmured a mild-eyed fellow guest, 

 " but I had alwaj's supposed that 

 it was the other way about — that 

 the large women married the small 

 men." — " Youth's Companion. 



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