it is desired to make as distinctive as pos 
sible, ig between the spring flowering and 
tree or perpetual varieties. 
SPRING BLOOMERS. : 
This class is divided into five sections : 
1. Bizarres: Varieties striped or flaked 
with two distinct colors on a white 
ground: 
2. Flakes: 
scarlet rose or purple on a 
ground. 
3. Selfy: Those of one pure color. 
4. Fancies, which may be any other than 
the forenamed varieties. This class has 
been improyed* to an immense degree, 
owing to the beautiful yellow tints and 
shades introduced, and has risen from the 
most insignificant sectior{ of a few years ago 
to the most popular and beautiful of all, 
giving the most lovely combinations of 
colors and delicate markings, practically 
unknown, even as late as ten years ago. 
Ravenscroft, in. his all instructive book on 
the “Culture of Carnations,’ quotes them 
as the small class of fancy varieties. Now 
this has been. entirely altered, and this 
class is at the top of the list as regards 
beauty and popularity, and includes such 
lovely flowers as Miss Awkright, Artemis, 
Heather Bell, the Gift, and others of 
equal merit that we have had the oppor- 
tunity of seeing at our shows. - 
5. Picotecs: Simply Carnations with an 
edge of color. These are either white or 
yellow ground, with a clear, distinct edge 
of rose, scarlet, crimson, or purple. They 
may have a wire (viz., thin edge), a me- 
dium, edge, or a heavy edge, but the edge 
must be absolutely distinct, any running of 
color into the petal absolutely disqualify- 
ing the flower as a picotec, and making it a 
fancy variety. ele tes 
This completes the classification of the 
spring blooming varieties, and for those 
who may not be quite certain, such blooms 
as Purple Flake, which. is al perpetual, is 
pot a flake, as the ground color is not a 
pure white, and you will not find any 
flakes amongst the perpetuals. Also Arte- 
mis, which is described as scarlet flaked 
lavender, is not a flake, as it has not a 
white ground at all. 
TREE OR PERPETUAL CARNATIONS. 
These—the most popular of all our 
varieties—are mostly well known to us. 
To secure the society's approval a perpetual 
seedling must be shown three times during 
the year, at intervals of not less than two 
months, thus proving its perpetual habit. 
This class is divided into two sections, 
yviz., show and decorative, and again sub- 
divided into show, selfs, and fancies, and 
decorative, selfs, and fancies. 
Shows: Selfs, those of one pure color, 
and fancies, any other than selfs, which 
must have a smooth edge and an unbroken 
calyx to compete successfully in the show 
trays. ; ; 
Decoratives: Selfs and fancies which 
may be notched or ser ‘ated, and need not 
necessarily have an unbroken calyx. 
The classification of decorative and show 
ivee carnations constitutes, I think, the 
hardest task that our society has to deal 
with, and I should like to give every con- 
sideration as to the true meaning of the 
decorative variety. 
Tt appears that a difficulty is most likely 
10 
Varieties flaked with either 
pure white 
~ them. 
to be made in judging the best decoratives. 
The tendency, it seems to me, is to try and 
bring the nearest approach in the fringed 
or decorative varieties to that of the show 
varieties, which I maintain is a mistake. 
Does not the word decorative mean showy, 
large, brilliant, easy, and graceful? 
Therefore a large flower, such as Peach 
Blossom, which I maintain is a typical de- 
corative (but a notorious burster) should be 
preferred to a smaller bloom, which may 
have a perfect calyx. 
Of course, you have such a lovely deco- 
rative as Flora Hill, practically a non- 
burster, but this is rather the exception 
than the rule, and I maintain that not very 
much attention should be paid to a burst 
calyx in this section, the chief essentials 
being color and size. Is it not more deco- 
rative in the show tray, in the garden, and 
on the dinner table in every way! 
Decorative roses are the brightest, most 
graceful and showy of all, and why not 
judge the carnations in the same way? 
Aim at color, size, and mass, and not at 
shape principally, is the idea of the true 
decorative. 
Of course, if you can get as large aj flower 
not split, then certainly award it first place, 
but do not, on any account, award it that 
merit if it is not as showy a flower as the 
others, otherwise the true sense of decora- 
tive is lost, and the class goes back to the 
model perfect flower, the only difference 
being a smooth edge. The great aim of the 
American specialists, such as Leaver and 
others, is to produce high-class decoratives 
with large flowers, long clean stems, grace- 
ful habits, and beautiful colors. From 
them we have Mrs. Lawson and Finance, 
sold at the highest prices known; © Flora 
Hill, Ethel Crocker, Leslie Paul, import- 
ed ones, and Passadena, Juanita, and seve- 
ral others, raised here from American seed, 
which for ever-blooming character and 
beauty are some of the greatest favorites, 
and some florists’ work cannot be 
surpassed. Give your lady friends 
the picking of | your carnations, 
and you will find your severest losses of 
flowers amongst your Flora Hills and such- 
like large varieties of the decorative class, 
while your perfect flakes and Bizarres will 
remain comparatively untouched. It has 
been. said that Eve was the first arranger 
of Nature's garland, and Adam had even 
then to be advised in his choice of a fig 
leaf, and. if so, why not give Eve’s daughters 
a chance, and let them judge the decora- 
tives? And I am quite sure that all con- 
servatism as to calices, &e., will be broken 
through, and the true decorative will win 
the day. 
areromrentae 
PLANTS IN POTS. 
‘That the culture of plants in pots is con- 
sidered, especially by those who have prac- 
tised it successfully to be one of the highest 
branches of gardening, may be admitted, but 
there are some cultivators, both gardeners 
and amateurs, who appear to entertain the 
belief that it is the best way in which to grow 
This must be objected to except in 
afew special cases, or where circumstances 
do not admit of the plants being grown in a 
natural manner. 
And, speaking generally, 
UE AUSTRALIAN GAL DENER Se 
Noy. 5, 1903 
culture in pots is not the best way in which 
plants can be brought to the highest degrec 
of perfection, and therefore it may be said, 
as it has been, that it is the worst way. In 
the case of orchids, for instance, it is more 
difficult to produce good specimens of many 
of the species in pots, that they try various 
other means for approaching the nearest they 
can to their natural mode of growth, baskets, 
logs, and other articles being brought into 
requisition. In the case of shrubby plants, 
though very beautiful specimens result from 
pot culture, they are by no means equal to 
what they might become if they could be 
grown in the open ground and other circum- 
stances were favourable ; a more luxuriant 
growth would be followed bya proportionate 
amount of blossom. ; 
Instances are not uucommon where plants 
that are commonly grown in pots have been 
planted in the open soil of a conservatory, 
and, under judicious management, have 
shown the advantage they have over others 
kept.in pots, in growth, freedom from 
disease, and general appearance. ‘‘ Whena 
plant is confined in a pot, its roots,” Lindley 
remarks, “instead of having the power of 
spreading constantly outwards, and away 
from their original starting point, are con- 
strained to go backon themselves ; the supply 
of food is comparatively uncertain, and they 
are usually exposed to fluctuations of tem- 
perature and moisture unknown in a natural 
condition, This cramping of the roots 
diminishes the tendency to form leaves, and 
also reduces their size, though it may increase 
the disposition of flower.” 
“The exhaustion of soil by a plant is one 
of the most. obvious inconveniences of 
potting. ‘he organisable matter in a soluble 
state contained in a garden pot must. neces- 
sarily be soon consumed by the numerous 
roots. crowded into a narrow compass, and 
_ continually feeding upon it, the effect being 
seen in the smallness of the leaves, the weak- 
ness of the branches, the few aud imperfect 
condition of the flowers.” In pot culture 
the various pests and diseases with which 
plants are infested--green fly, thrips, red 
spider, mildew, and others—-are encouraged 
and aggravated. : 
The growth and welfare of plants in pots 
are also affected by the exposure to fluc 
tuations of temperature and moisture to which 
they aresubjected It cannot be gcod.for a 
plant to have its roots ina medium that is 
liable to be alternately wet and dry, or cold 
and warm, to which they are exposed in pots. 
Even the difference between the temperature 
of day and night affects the soil in pots con- 
siderably, to the manifest disadvantage of 
the roots ; while the temperature of the open 
soil at the depth where the roots are found 
searcely varies from day to night or from 
day to day, only from one season to another, 
thus during a season of growth a_ther- 
mometer sunk a foot deep would rise 
gradually, andat very near the same rate 
day by day until the maximuni is reached, 
and then decline in an equally gradual man- 
ner with scarcely a break in its regularity ; 
whereas in the soil of a pot it would fluctuate 
by several degrees from one point to another, 
and the same with moisture, the soil being 
flood at one time and parched, or nearly so, 
at another, which is aggravated by the 
oD 
