340 
ON THE CARNATION. 
NOTE ON MR. DALE’S ARTICLE ON THE CARNATION. 
Page 255. 
It is allowed by the best judges, that carnations are nowhere grown 
better or finer than in the neighbourhood of London, where neither 
“Jine turf soil e( soil from rocks,” or “sandy soil from under roots of 
trees by brook sides/’ are to be found. The only ingredients used by 
one of the best growers, and which maybe considered a sample of the 
rest, he has assured me, are one-half good loam, and the other half rotten 
dung, well mixed and exposed for a time to sweeten before used : add 
to this a top-dressing of nearly all very rotten dung at the end of 
May. 
With respect to planting fine carnations in the open ground, it is 
certainly objectionable, as they are thereby rendered more obnoxious 
to their worst enemy, the wire-worm ; as, also, on the ground of con¬ 
venience both of shading and arrangement, which may be so well 
attended to on the site and with the awning of a tulip bed. As to the 
objection of wanting moisture, if the situation or weather require it, 
the pots might, in the spring, be sunk into the ground till ready to 
bloom, taking care to provide against the introduction of worms. I 
never saw carnations in any respect so fine, under the most skilful 
management, in the open ground, as when grown in pots (sixteens), in 
half loam and half rotten dung; nor do I believe they can, under any 
circumstances, be grown so fine in the open ground ; for one point of 
attention necessary for this plant is protection, particularly from easterly 
winds in spring, which can be more effectually and much more easily 
managed when in pots, than when planted in beds. 
With respect to layering , the best and most experienced growers 
are uniformly successful in layering as the flowers go out of bloom. 
I can neither see the utility or advantage of layering in May . Long- 
legged plants (as they are termed) can only be the result. 
I am not very favourable to the use of glass shelter for carnations, 
but I think a “ shed ” very objectionable. The carnation, it should be 
remembered, is a hardy plant, and constantly requires air, and only 
needs protection from a superabundance of rain, snow, and hail. A few 
sticks arched over to form a frame-work, to admit of a mat or two 
being thrown over occasionally, is, with my plants, quite sufficient 
protection. 
A. 
