OP ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
97 
for tulips will do very well ; but carnations are generally placed on a stage or platform when about to flower. 
When the carnations are in flower, they should be frequently examined to search for earwigs, which eat their 
way into the calyx and devour the claws of the petals. Sometimes a ring of brass wire is attached to the stick to 
support the flower ; and sometimes a piece of card is slipiied over the calyx, before the expansion of the flower, 
to keep the claws of the petals together, as otherwise the petals become loose, and soon lose their beauty. 
Carnations are propagated by layers, pipings, or seeds. Layers are shoots buried in the ground, so as to 
force them to take root at a joint, without separating them from the mother plant. This operation is best 
performed when the plants are in full bloom, which is generally about the middle or end of July. A mmiber of 
pegs should be provided of bone,' fern, or wood, each five or six inches long, with a short hooked end, and the 
operator should have a sharp penknife. The layer may have four or five joints ; and the lower leaves next the 
toot are all to be cut or stripped off close, till within two or three joints of the end of the layer. Some persons 
also clip off the extreme point of the shoots " with a knife or pair of scissors, so as to leave them only an inch and 
a half, or two inches, in length, from the joint whence they proceed, according to the strength and substance of 
the layers." "When all the layers in a pot are thus prepared, the surface of the earth must be cleared, and 
stirred about an inch deep, and the pot filled nearly level with some carnation compost, or other light rich mould, 
taking care that it is not of too fine a grain. The layer should then be cut about half through, about a quarter 
of an inch below the second or third joint from the tip, the knife being introduced on the side next the ground, 
and cut in a sloping direction upwards, "through the middle of the joint, and half or three quarters of an inch 
above it ; the small portion left under, and connected with the joint, is to be cut off horizontally, quite close to 
the bottom of the joint, but not into it, as it is from the outer circle of the bottom of the joint that the fibres 
proceed, consequently that part should not be injured ; but it is necessary to cut it off close to the joint, for it 
would decay if suffered to remain, and perhaps communicate its rottenness to the joint itself, and destroy the 
plant." {Flor. Dir. p. 184.) After tlie incision, the wounded branch must be carefully laid in the earth, and 
pegged down close behind the joint where the incision was made, great care being taken to avoid breaking it, or even 
cracking it at the joint ; and as there is great danger of this being the case from the great brittleness of the 
shoots, it is generally thought best to withhold water, and set the plant in the sun, so as to make it flag a little 
before the operation is commenced. "When the layer is pegged down, the end of the shoot should be raised gently 
up with the hand, so as to cause the incision to gape, and the joint should be covered lightly with earth ; " for 
if it be buried more than half or three quarters of an inch deep, it will lose much of the benefit it should derive 
from the influence of the air, &c., and bo more liable to decay; at all events, it will require a longer time to 
strike root." The stalk of the layer should only be covered at the joint ; as if any of the foliage be buried, the 
moisture of the earth will make it decay, and the shoot becoming rotten will damp off. As soon as the joint 
is pegged down, it should be gently watered to settle the soil, and if the earth should be washed off the joint by 
the watering, it should be covered again to the same depth as before. As soon as the layers have taken root, 
which will be the case with some sorts in about three weeks or a month after layering, and with others in about 
two months, they must be cut from the mother plant with about half an inch of stalk, and placed in small pots, 
four in a pot, for the winter. The pots should then be placed on a bed of coal ashes, or on a stone or slate shelf, 
as they are said to be rendered sickly if exposed to the vapour of vegetables in a state of decomposition. In the 
beginning of November, the plants are put into frames, which must be kept quite dry, or the plants will mildew. 
