CLOVE CARNATION. 169 



convenience of the possessor. After being thus 

 potted, they should be set in some convenient 

 airy place, till they are sufficiently advanced to be 

 set on the flowering* stage. Some cultivators 

 place them on this stage at once, and erect the 

 awning over them when necessary. 



During the ensuing period, the plants send 

 forth their flower-stem ; and, soon as they have 

 risen so as to be in jeopardy of falling, or being 

 broken by the wind, suitable propping-sticks are 

 thrust perpendicularly into the centre of the 

 pot, to which the stems, as they advance in height, 

 must be neatly and securely tied. These sticks 

 are four feet long, made of good deal, and formed 

 like an arrow : the part w^hich enters the earth 

 is tapered off square, and the whole is painted of 

 a lively green. 



By and by the flower-buds appear. One, 

 two, or three, only, of these are suffered to blow : 

 all others, together with any side-shoots issuing 

 from the stem, should be displaced soon as they 

 come forth. If the aphides shew themselves, 

 banish them as soon as possible by the means 



