48 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
show in a whitish discolouration of one or more of the leaves. This 
is the track of the pest as it burrows its way inside the leaf towards 
the central stem. If found at this stage and killed, little or no harm 
will have been done, but if it is neglected or overlooked till the stem 
itself has been reached, the growing top of the plant will have been 
destroyed. If, however, it has not gone too far, side shoots will spring 
up from the base if the decayed part is removed, and a bushy plant 
will result, none the worse for its narrow escape. The maggot itself, 
a small cream-coloured grub about one quarter of an inch long, or 
less, according to its age when discovered, is the larva of a fly technically 
known as Hylemyia nigrescens ; and there is no remedy against its 
ravages but hand-picking. Seedlings are much more readily attacked 
than older plants or layers. 
If higher quality of flowers is wanted than that provided by seed- 
lings, the grower must obtain a stock of named varieties which have been 
layered during the summer, and these will be ready to send out from a 
nursery in September and October. The beds should have been prepared 
and made ready for their occupants not later than the end of August, so 
that the soil will be thoroughly settled before planting time. The best 
time for this is during the latter part of September and early October. 
The layers, already well rooted, must be planted firmly, and will then 
have a few weeks to take thorough hold of the new soil before winter 
sets in, and they should grow away strongly in the spring with a better 
chance of acquitting themselves well the following summer than plants 
put in later in the year, or held over till the beginning of the growing 
season. 
I would like to emphasize the necessity of firm planting, which is 
specially conducive to the well-being of Carnation growth. It also 
secures the plants from being knocked about in winter storms, and 
from being loosened in the soil by the action of frost which would 
seriously interfere with root growth. 
As seedling plants make larger and freer growth than layers, I 
recommend these to be planted eighteen inches apart, with about 
fifteen inches for layers. This will give room for subsequent layering, 
and for hoeing to keep down weeds and preventing caking of the surface 
in hot dry weather. 
Many people like to have Other plants growing amongst their Carna- 
tions, but, on the whole, I think it better to devote beds entirely to 
them. May-flowering Tulips, however, or the early bulbous Iris, do 
not interfere to any great extent with the Carnations, as they bloom 
and mature their foliage before the latter reach the full extent of their 
development ; so, if a lengthened period of flowering is wanted, I can 
recommend the interplanting of the above ; or the choicer Narcissi 
would do equally well. 
Both seedling Carnations and plants grown from layers produce 
many more buds than could ever come to perfection as flowers. It is 
wise therefore to thin out the surplus buds as soon as they can be 
handled. As we are now dealing with the Carnation as a border plant, 
