1876. ] 
DISQUALIFICATIONS IN CARNATIONS. 
101 
ful transposition of the petals, those which do not naturally imbricate may be 
made to do so, the best, of course, being left most prominent in the operation. 
The work is a nice one, requiring delicacy of touch and firmness of hand in the 
operator, but beyond and above all, a keen insight into that which constitutes 
beauty in the flower, and an equally keen perception of its drawbacks. To these 
requirements I must add one other—patience. Whatever may be his other 
qualities, he who lacks this will never succeed in developing the full beauty of a 
well-grown Carnation or Picotee, though from the character of its markings the 
latter is much the more readily operated upon, and whoever talks of metamor¬ 
phose or transformation in “ two ” minutes or “ ten ” at the hand of a good 
dresser, so that “ its own mother would not know it again,” may be set down as 
using a form of expression as inconsistent with fact, as it is unworthy attention. 
The instruments required by the operator are :— 
1. A pair of steel tweezers, roughed on the inner side at the points, for the 
reversal of the upper ends of the calyx. 
2. A pair of very smooth and nicely tempered ivory tweezers, for the placing 
of the petals. 
3. A pair of fine-pointed scissors, for the removal of any deformed petal. 
4. A camel’s-hair brush of suitable size, for removing dust from the surface 
of the petals. 
The tweezers, both of steel and ivory, may be obtained of Mr. Benjamin 
Simonite, Bough Bank, Sheffield. 
Work for May. —Watch the weather carefully, and let there be no want of 
promptitude or ingenuity in* accommodating the stock to its vicissitudes. If cold 
and dull, be sparing in the use of the watering-pot; if warm and dry, copious 
waterings will be needed. Watch for green-fly and every species of vermin, and 
destroy them immediately they are detected. Cut off, or otherwise clear away, 
decayed foliage, and towards the middle of the month place the blooming-sticks to 
the plants. Stir the surface-soil frequently, but carefully when dry, and never 
allow it to remain closed and hard, the result of heavy rains or repeated waterings. 
Protect pans of seedlings from snails and grubs. If green-fly is observed, dust 
strong snuff over them through a flne muslin bag.—E. S. Dodwell. 
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DISQUALIFICATIONS IN CARNATIONS. 
0 “J. B.”—who asks me to give the reasons for the disqualiflcation set out on 
p. 82, and who says further, does a flake petal in a bizarre disqualify or 
not ? as if so, he has never seen it carried out—I may reply, that the 
reasons are easy to And. Were self-petals allowed, the flower would suffer 
in that element, variety, which constitutes one of its chiefest beauties ; and if two colours, in 
addition to the white, were not required in every petal in the case of bizarred flowers, that 
variety would be lowered in character. I think my correspondent must be mistaken in saying 
he has never known this rule enforced. Probably he has assumed “the two colours, in 
addition to the white,” must have been represented by “ bold or handsome through-stripes ”—a 
“fine quality”—as Mr. Horner (p. 55) so graphically says, and such as “a splashy flower 
