May 10. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
125 
like, so single flowers will, in a hundred eases to one, 
produce single flowered offspring, and, therefore, the 
florist, being so taught by experience, saves his seeds 
only from double flowers, or those that are nearly so. A 
perfectly double flower cannot produce seed; to do so it 
must he only partially so, and the seed pods will be 
shorter, and the seeds fewer in such flowers than in 
single flowers. Hence, seed so saved is very valuable, 
and few florists will part with it. Even the most care¬ 
fully selected seed of this flower is very uncertain in its 
progeny. Nature is ever striving to regain its wild state 
in all flowers, but more especially in the Carnation and 
Picotee. Many hundreds of seedlings may be raised 
every year, and nine-tenths of them will be useless as 
florists’ flowers. Still, some few will come perfect, and, 
therefore, the most simple grower need not despair. Let 
“perseverance” be his motto, and success will even¬ 
tually ensue and reward him abundantly for his trouble. 
Save selected seed from as double flowers as possible; 
gather it as soon as it is ripe, and keep it dry and cool 
through the winter. Sow in boxes in March, placed 
under glass or on a warm border. In April, transplant 
the seedlings on a bed enriched with leaf mould, or 
very decayed hotbed manure, as soon as they arc large 
enough. Plant them nine inches apart, and let them 
remain on that bed through the succeeding summer and 
winter. They will all flower the season following. 
Mark such as are good, name them, and layer them in 
the v r ay I shall describe presently. Afterwards treat 
them exactly like your old favourite good varieties. 
By Layers .—A layer is a branch, or shoot, brought 
down to the ground, and when rooted, separated from 
its parent. It is then a distinct individual, though 
exactly like its parent. Carnations, Picotees and Pinks, 
in order to produce perfect flowers, must be young 
plants every year. The old plants, if any are left alive, 
are only fit for the borders as common flowers. 
The mode of layering a Carnation or Picotee is well 
known to every florist of any standing, hut for the sake 
of new beginners I will briefly describe it. The materials 
wanted for the operation are a sharp small knife, a quan¬ 
tity of hooked pegs (the fronds of the common brake 
or fern are the best, though they may be made of birch 
or hazel), and some finely-sifted soil. These should all 
be ready by the time the shoots round each plant have 
made five or six joints, or pairs of leaves. Choose a 
dull, cloudy day on which to perform the work, or if tiro 
plants arc in pots, under an elevated awning, they may 
be layered in any weather. Commence by taking hold 
of a shoot, and trim off the leaves from the bottom, leav¬ 
ing the two uppermost on and entire. I do not approve 
of the old method of shortening the leaves that are left 
on the shoots, for I consider the cutting off a portion of 
the leaf is positively injurious, and hinders the layer 
from rooting so soon as it otherwise would if the leaves 
were left entire. I have proved this repeatedly, and 
always with the same results. 
Trim off the lower leaves on every shoot before layer¬ 
ing one, because when a layer is tongued it is easily 
broken off. When this is done, take hold of the shoot, 
turn it up, and pass the knife blade through the third 
joint upward, commencing the cut just below it; then 
put down the knife, and reach a hooked peg; thrust it 
into the soil, catching hold by its hook of the layer as 
it descends, and press it gently down to the soil. Do 
the next in the same manner, and so on till every shoot 
is layered ; then cover them all with the sifted mould, 
about tbree-quarters-of-an-inch deep, and that pot, or 
plant, is completed. Then give a slight watering, and 
the layers want no further care till they are rooted, 
which will be in about a month or six weeks. Examine 
them occasionally, and, as soon as roots are emitted, 
pot them off into five-inch pots, a pair in each ; or if 
your space is limited, and the layers small, three may 
be put into each pot. Dealers always put them in 
pairs, because it is almost an universal custom to sell 
them by pairs. After they are potted they should be 
placed under glass, in a cold frame or pit, plenty of air 
given in mild weather, and shelter from severe frost 
when it occurs. Very little water is required through 
the winter months, and the air in the frame should be 
kept as dry as possible. Should damp prevail, the 
plants, some fine day, should be taken out, and a coat 
of fine, dry coal ashes spread over the surface. The 
plants should then be replaced in the pit. These dry 
ashes absorb the atmospheric moisture which otherwise 
would settle upon the foliage, and cause the disease 
called the spot. 
By Pipings .—Carnations may be propagated by this 
mode where there is the convenience of a gentle hotbed. 
It is, however, not so safe as layering, but where there 
are more shoots than can be layered, and it is desirable 
to propagate largely, the superfluous shootsmay be piped. 
Take them off, and cut off the lower part off the shoot 
up to the third joint, trim off the lowest pair of leaves, 
and pass the knife just through the joint. Prepare a 
pot by draining it, and filling it with the proper compost 
up to within an inch of the top; fill that with silver 
sand, water it gently to make it firm, and then insert 
the pipings all round it close to the pot sides; place 
them in a gentle hotbed, shading from the sun. Watch 
them daily, and supply water when the sand becomes 
dry. When they are rooted, which they will show by 
sending up fresh leaves, pot them in pairs, as directed 
lor the layers, and treat them in the same way. Picotees 
require exactly the same treatment in every minute 
particular. T. Appleby. 
{To he continued.) 
LYCOPODIUMS. 
(Continued from page 82.) 
Culture in a Wardian Case. —There are no plants, 
not even excepting Ferns, that thrive so well in a close 
glass case as Lycopods. After all that has been said 
and written about suitable plants for these drawing¬ 
room greenhouses, there are very few plants that will 
live any length of time in them. I may venture to 
claim some credit for knowledge on this point, for 
whilst at Pine-Apple Place I had to furnish with plants 
great numbers of them, and my experience warrants me 
to assert, without fear of contradiction, that, excepting 
Ferns and Lycopodiums, no plants will exist satisfactorily 
more than six months, and great numbers that I tried 
did not live half that time. 
The great cause of failure no doubt arose from the 
want of fresh air, and a too moist atmosphere. The 
plants, excepting the two tribes mentioned above, 
always became covered with mould, and, in conse¬ 
quence, perished. 
To grow well even Lycopods and Ferns, I would 
recommend the upper squares to be hinged, so that, 
when the air becomes foul, or too much heated, the 
squares can he opened, and the plants relieved. If one 
of the ends, also, is made to open, it will cause a freer 
circulation of air, and the plants will be the more bene¬ 
fited thereby. 
Pure air being provided for the plants, the next im¬ 
portant thing is soil. This should be of an open tex¬ 
ture, to prevent stagnation of water, and to allow the 
air to reach the roots, for it is a well-proved fact that 
roots will perish if totally deprived of atmospheric in¬ 
fluence. I always used very rough peat, generally such 
as would not pass through a quarter-inch meshed sieve. 
This I mix liberally with silver sand, but, where this 
cannot be had, river sand will answer the purpose. To 
this I added some chopped sphagnum, and mixed the 
