912 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



\_July. 



and the surface of the mould stirred up, to give them a neat 

 appearance. Their flower-stalks should be neatly supported, 

 and where there are too many flower-buds upon the plants, 

 they should be thinned out. Cut off, with a sharp knife, all 

 the smallest flower-buds, in order that the larger may have 

 room to expand their petals, and that they may not be robbed 

 of a due share of nourishment. 



Such of the flowers as may appear to burst or open sooner 

 on one side of the calix than the other, should be assisted by 

 opening the opposite side with a sharp-pointed pen-knife, in 

 t\vo or three places, to assist the petals in their regular expan- 

 sion. This process of slitting the flower-pod must not be 

 done in a careless manner, nor too much be done at a time, 

 but repeated frequently, and done with care and judgment. It 

 is also of much use, in order to prevent this premature burst- 

 ing of the calix, to tie it round near the middle with a fresh 

 bit of matting or other bandage. The florists most generally 

 for this purpose use narrow slips of bladder, which they wrap 

 round the bud, and fasten them to it with gum-water. 



To prolong the season of these flowers, it is necessary that 

 they be protected both from excessive sun-shine and rain. 

 M hen the plants stand singly in the borders, it is more diOicult 

 to i)rovide sufficient shelter for them, than when they are in 

 beds, or in pots, where they can be either covered with a canvas 

 awning, or the pots removed under shelter. Florists use for 

 those which stand singly small tin caps, in form of an umbrella, 

 and from six to ten inches in diameter ; each cap is furnished 

 with a square tube on the summit, through which the stick 

 that supports the plant is passed and made flist by a wedge, 

 or often by a nail, which passes through the side of the tube 

 and into the stick, which secures the cap at any distance from 

 the flower which may be selected. Where carnations are cul- 

 tivated on a large scale, it is better to have them in one bed 

 or beds, where they can be protected by an awning of canvas, 

 supported over them sulHcicntly high to admit the owner to 

 walk freely underneath, which awning can be drawn up and 

 down, as occasion may require, by means of pullies and lines. 

 Those that cultivate florists' flowers should not be without 

 such frames, for they serve the purpose of sheltering the early 



