January i8, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
33 
Border Carnations. 
During frosty periods like that which 
followed Christmas and the New Year, 
the sashes of cold frames should be kept 
closed where the stock of border Carna¬ 
tions is stored in pots. Growers should 
wait, however, till the soil in the pots 
thaws before opening the frames, other¬ 
wise the plants would thaw too suddenly. 
After this and while the mild weather 
lasts keep the sashes well tilted up at the 
back, and during dry weather the sashes 
should be taken off entirely during the 
day. The chief aim should be to exclude 
rain and snow 7 from falling on the plants. 
Those w 7 ho made their new plantations in 
the open last autumn should look them 
over, and should any of the plants be 
partly raised out of the ground by frost, 
carefully push them home again with the 
fingers when the soil is sufficiently dry to 
permit of this. 
Show Carnations and Picotees. 
Take advantage of mild weather to 
Store sufficient turfy loam and leaf mould 
with the object of letting it get dry and 
workable for the final potting of the 
plants into their flow 7 ering sizes towards 
the end of next month or the beginning 
of March. Freely ventilate the frames 
or houses on all favourable occasions and 
keep the plants on the dry side. 
Tree Carnations. 
The time has arrived for taking the 
first batch of cuttings, even if some of the 
old plants should still be furnishing a few 
flowers. Make up a propagating bed in 
the stove or a warm pit where a bottom 
Carnation cutting with a heel. 
heat of 60 degs. can easily be maintained. 
The atmosphere of the house, however, 
may be 5 degs. to 10 degs. lower than 
this. Take cuttings about 3 in. long from 
the main stems. A good plan is to take 
hold of the cuttings v 7 ith the right hand 
and while holding the shoot udth the left 
nip out the cutting with a heel of the old 
wood or simply the joint at the base of 
the young shoot. Insert these in very 
Carnation cuttings inserted in -pot. 
sandy soil in pots and cover them with 
bell-glasses or hand-lights. A safer plan 
at this season of the year is to lay panes 
of glass on the tops of the labels in the 
pots, so that excessive moisture may 
escape by the sides, v 7 hile the glass simply 
serves to maintain a certain degree of 
moisture about the cuttings, thereby pre¬ 
venting them from flagging, even if the 
sun should come out brightly. With this 
treatment the cuttings will root during 
four to six weeks, some being more ready 
to emit roots than others. 
Malmaison Carnations. 
Avoid the use of fire heat as much as 
possible, keeping the house closed and 
perfectly dry during frosty weather. A 
temperature of 35 degs. to 40 degs. will 
be- quite sufficient for the welfare cf the 
plants if the fire is in good working order, 
so that the thermometer does not reach 
freezing point during the night. The 
foliage should be kept perfectly dry over¬ 
head and the roots allowed to get dry 
before watering them, but sufficient 
should be given to wet the whole ball of 
soil and no more till the soil is equally 
as dry again. Ventilate freely except in 
hard weather, and remove dead and dis¬ 
eased leaves. 
American Carnations. 
Some growers commence taking cut¬ 
tings in December, but where this has not 
yet been done, lose no time in securing 
an early batch. Reject the strong shoots 
from the base of plants and take cuttings 
from the flowering stems, as such retain 
the character of the plants true to the 
variety. The shoots at the base of the 
plants give strong cuttings that will grow 
into vigorous plants, but sometimes these 
refuse to bloom, notwithstanding their 
vigour. The rather thin and wiry shoots 
pulled off with a heel are the best. In¬ 
sert and treat these cuttings much the 
same as advised for Tree Carnations. 
(See illustrations of the method of pre¬ 
paring and inserting cuttings). The same 
temperature as advised for T ree Carna¬ 
tions will serve to root these. 
The old plants will still be flowering 
freely and a temperature of 50 degs. to 
52 degs. at night will serve for most of 
them. When varieties can now be ob¬ 
tained which open their flowers freely 
under this temperature, it is needless to 
retain old ones which are liable to burst 
and fall about unless the grower has some 
special reason for keeping them. Keep 
down insect pests by vaporising and sul¬ 
phuring the pipes to keep red spider in 
check. While the plants are being kept 
so dry in winter it favours this pest, and 
prompt means should be taken to deal 
-—- 
Hoya carnosa 
variegata. - - 
Few plants are more effective for 
baskets in the intermediate house or the 
stove than the above evergreen climber, 
the decorative value of which is greatly 
enhanced when the waxy flowers, like 
those of H. carnosa, are produced, though 
it is not so free-flowering as the latter. 
Plants may be readily raised from cut¬ 
tings in the spring, which will soon root, 
if placed in the propagating pit. 
Procure some wire baskets and line 
them with sphagnum moss, then nearly 
fill them with an open compost, consist¬ 
ing of turfy loam, peat and leaf soil, with 
a liberal sprinkling of coarse road grit or 
sand and a little dried cow manure passed 
through a fine sieve. Well mix these 
ingredients together, and lightly press 
down with the finger. 
The cuttings, when well rooted, should 
be planted round the edge of the basket 
about six inches apart, after first having 
warmed the material. Very little water¬ 
ing will be needed for a time, but fre¬ 
quent syringings with tepid water and 
shade from bright sunshine will be bene¬ 
ficial to growth. 
As growth develops train the young 
shoots over the surface of the sphagnum, 
and peg them down with small ware pins, 
when they will soon emit roots. Abund¬ 
ance of water will be required during the 
growing season (if the drainage is perfect) 
which is best applied by immersing the 
basket in water. 
Mealy bug is the worst pest, which must 
be removed by careful sponging. 
E. B. 
