Carnations 
Anybody can grow carnations but few 
really grow good ones. Why? Well, in the 
first place you have to start with bushy plants 
(8-12 breaks), free of spots and stem rot, 
which can be done easily. Just keep your 
plants sprayed regularly with lime-sulphur, 
Fungisul, or Bordeaux. That won’t stop stem 
rot, but sterilized soil, high planting, no injury 
to stems and reduction of water will help. 
Assuming now that you have started with 
clean bushy plants, the next point to consider 
is the watering. Don’t water too much, give 
the plants a chance to get established before 
any heavy watering is done, and then keep 
on the dry side in between waterings. You 
will avoid trouble and lengthen your stems. 
When you think you ought to water, just 
wait a day or two, this especially important 
during late fall and winter. 
Your soil—be sure you have enough lime 
and potash, with low nitrogen and low phos- 
phorus. If properly prepared with manure, 
bonemeal or superphosphate and potash and 
lime you won’t have to do much of any feed- 
ing during fall except perhaps a dose or two 
of tankage or ammonium sulphate. Then lay 
off during late fall and winter. In the spring 
a mulch of horse manure and some ammonium 
sulphate will help. 
We hope you did not pinch after the middle 
of July if you expect a Christmas crop. In- 
cidentally, some growers have done an ex- 
cellent job by growing carnations in gravel 
culture and by subirrigation with water. Some 
day you ought to try one of these methods— 
they are labor savers. 
Watch out for spider during the summer. 
DN dust or Fulex do an excellent job, espe- 
cially the latter. In some varieties the Fulex 
actually stimulates growth, but be sure to fol- 
low directions. The old remedies of using lime- 
sulphur, salt water, etc. are only partially 
successful and any sprays which contain oil 
will stunt growth, although Loro has worked 
well in some sections. 
Bouvardia 
With Lily of the Valley Pips not obtain- 
able at least for the duration of the war, one 
of the items as a good substitute is BOUVAR- 
DIA. It is useful for many purposes. 
Now is the time to plant for next season’s 
supply. We have nice 2!4 inch and 3 inch 
Pots ready for benching in the best kinds of 
white. We also have good pink colors. 
Our bulb list is now pretty complete with 
prices. Have you a copy? 
Plant Names 
We do not propose in this brief discussion 
to go into extremes about plant names but if 
we understand something about them, per- 
haps they will not seem weird, nor will they 
appall the beginner. Once we know what a 
name means and why it is given, it 1s easier 
to remember and associate it with the plant. 
However, it is absolutely silly, after learning 
a few botanical names to show our superiority 
to the extent of calling an oak a Quercus, or 
a daisy Bellis perennis while in the course of 
ordinary conversation with our friends or 
customers. 
An old poet satirizes this habit thus: 
“High-sounding words our worthy gar- 
dener gets, ; 
And at his club to wondering swains 
repeats; 
He there of Rhus and Rhododendron 
speaks, 
And Allium calls his onions and his leeks; 
Here Arum, there Leontodons we view, 
And Artemesia grows where Wormwood 
grew.” 
The prejudice against botanical names is 
uncalled for. ‘They are needed to avoid the 
lack of uniformity in common names so preva- 
lent in various localities. A most common 
example is Bachelor’s Button which may fit 
either Centaurea cyanus or Gomphrena glo- 
bosa. Incidentally the Centaurea is often 
called the Cornflower and Gomphrena a straw- 
flower, which name also fits Helichrysum. So 
it goes! 
Many botanical names are merely descrip- 
tions of the plant in Latin or Greek, while 
common names may be Anglicized forms 
given to plants by people in their place of 
origin. Thus peach, pear, plum, etc. coming 
from the Mediterranean region, are forms of 
Latin, while many forest trees—oak, ash, 
beech, etc. originated in Central Europe. 
From names of species valuable cultural 
hints are available. When the specific name 
is himalaicus, alpinus, montanus, you know 
it came from high elevation. If it is described 
as stbericus, arcticus, 1t will stand severe cold. 
Chilensis or mexicanus is indicative of warm 
climates, while aquaticus is”a sure sign it 
eTOWS hear or in Swamps. 
We merely mention all this to make the 
grower feel that he is not going high-hat when 
he uses botanical names—many of them really 
mean something. 
Thumb Sucking. Do you have a child who 
sucks his thumb? Who doesn’t? It’s really 
a bad habit—Might cause “‘buck teeth” and 
in later life make it difficult to suck on a pipe. 
Hence, make a strong tea of Quassia Chips 
and apply to thumb. 
