266 THE FLOWER-GARDEN, [chap. viii. 
vourite border flower. The florists’ carna¬ 
tions are of three kinds, viz. — the flakes, 
which are striped with broad bands of two 
colours; the bizarres, which are striped or 
streaked with three colours; and the picot- 
tees, which are much the hardiest, and are 
only bordered with a narrow margin of some 
dark colour, or dotted with very small and 
almost imperceptible spots. The carnation, 
in its wild state, is a native of England, and 
is generally found on the walls of some old 
castle, or other ruin, or growing in very 
poor, gravelly, or calcareous soil. The cul¬ 
tivated plant, of course, requires different 
treatment; and the following directions have 
been kindly given to us by one of the first 
growers of carnations in France, M. Triquet 
de Blanc, Rue de la Madelaine, Paris:— 
“ The compost should be a fresh mellow 
loam, mixed with an equal quantity of what 
the French call terre de taupiniere , and we, 
casts from mole-hills; to this mixture should 
be added a fifth of well-rotten cow-dung, 
so thoroughly decayed as to have become 
quite black. The soil thus prepared should 
be pressed firmly into the pots, more so, 
