72 
CARNATION. 
3rd. Picotees — such as have a fringed edge, usu¬ 
ally a white or yellow ground, spotted or pounced, with 
scarlet, red, purple or other colors. 
The Carnation is a Plant that is easy of cultivation, 
growing in any good garden soil, but from the sever¬ 
ity of this climate, in winter, they require protection, 
either in a Greenhouse or cold frame. 
These flowers are usually propagated by Layers, 
which should be performed as soon as the flowers 
begin to fade, or the shoots are long enough for the 
purpose, in the following manner. Prepare the Layers 
by cutting off their lower leaves, next stir up the earth 
around the plants, and lay about an inch of fresh soil, 
then make an incision with a sharp pen knife, by enter¬ 
ing about a quarter of an inch below a joint, and pass¬ 
ing the blade of the knife up through the center of it, 
and continue to one-half or three-quarters of an inch 
above it, then cut off the portion of the stem left below 
the joint close to it, and this part of the operation is 
completed. The incision being thus made, the layer 
must be gently pressed into the soil, and secured by a 
peg at not less than an inch nor more than an inch 
and a half below the surface; raise the end of each 
Layer, as upright as possible, but do not trim the 
leaves, as it retards their rooting, and give them a 
watering, which may be repeated as the weather may 
render it necessary, and they will be rooted and ready 
to pot off in six weeks. The slip or tongue recom¬ 
mended to be made is requisite, to intercept the down¬ 
ward flow of the pulp, and cause it to form root fibres. 
When they have struck root, or by the end of Sep¬ 
tember, cut them from the parent plant, with about 
