POTTING CARNATIONS. 
33 
plants will be formed by the ensuing June; and then a drier 
atmosphere, with free exposure to sun-light, will induce the pro¬ 
duction of flowers. These are produced in cymes from the axils 
of the leaves, near the base of the shoots. The petals are flesh- 
coloured, waxy in texture, and singularly twisted backwards ; the 
gaily coloured anthers are then visible. It is important to re¬ 
mark, that the pedicels of these cymes are of long continuance, 
and bear flowers for several years, just as happens with Hoy a 
carnosa, whose flower-stems, it is well known, produce blossoms 
for several successive seasons. It is, therefore, of consequence 
to preserve them as much as possible; and, in pruning an old 
plant, the shoots should only be cut so far back as will retain 
the bloom-stems and one joint of wood above them. From the 
rapid manner in which the plants grow under good treatment, 
this pruning will be required every year, and is best done in 
spring, when they are potted for the first time, unless want of 
space renders it positively necessary to reduce them as much 
as possible when placed for the winter. If to be cut back at 
that period, they should be previously well ripened, and kept 
rather dry afterwards, or it is likely they will begin to grow 
before the season is sufficiently advanced to render their develop¬ 
ment at all desirable. 
In training this plant, the cultivator must begin while it is 
very young, and, by frequent stopping, secure a good number of 
branches near the bottom, or all after pains will be thrown away. 
The thick shoots wear a very unsightly appearance if strained 
much out of a perpendicular; and, indeed, after the formation of 
a well-filled base, the less that is done to them the better. The 
head is sure to be thick enough from the size and number of the 
leaves. 
J. T. Smith. 
Oaklands. 
POTTING CARNATIONS. 
The young florist is always anxious to know how and when to 
perform this operation: to his mind, the exact quantity of each 
ingredient in the compost, and the precise period at which it is 
done, are matters of paramount importance. That a beginner 
