A sal 
1910, 
nnn Inn nn nanan enn ESeEEREeeeeneed 
tions, during the cold season of the 
year ; although this loss could perhaps be 
regained by reversing the process that 
brought about the change and gradually 
hardening the plant until it could with- 
stand the rigors of our severe winters. 
This change from summer-blooming ‘to 
perpetual-blooming:is not confined to the 
Carnation ; but has been accomplished in 
the case of other plants. 
Chrysanthemums have been grown 
from seed that was saved from the erdi- 
nary. seasonal-blooming kinds, that have 
developed into varieties that have been 
had in flower every month of the year, 
and the Rose is one of the most familiar 
examples of a plant that has been 
changed from an annual to a continuous 
bloomer through the treatment accorded 
to it under modern methods of culture. 
— The Carnation Then and Now, — 
The flower to-day, and 
especially in this country, is the most 
popular flower produced by the florists, 
having overtaken and passed the old- 
time favorite, the Rose, in the race for 
popular favor, and of being 
referred to aa the divine flower it might 
very truthfully be ae the people‘s 
flower 
To become really popular, a flower 
must possess several of the following 
the first of which is 
beauty, indefinable and 
elusive quality. In addition, it should 
have a pleasant odor and be capable of 
being used in a variety of ways and for 
Carnation 
instead: 
qualifications, 
a somewhat 
Varions purposes. 
Its texture should be-such that it will ’ 
remain in fairly good condition. for a 
reasonable length of time, and its success- 
ful cultivation should be so simple that it 
can be grown and sold profitably at such 
a price that the ordinary flower-user can 
afford to buy it freely. All these various 
possessed by the 
it may be 
requirements are 
Carnation, and, in addition, 
procured at any time during the entire 
year. 
Loses, Violets, Lilies of the. Valley,... 
other » 
Chrysanthemums, and. many 
will continue 
admirers, and will always, be in demand, 
flowers 
When in Season ; but some of them are, 
to+have their . 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
difficult to produce with profit and the 
most of them are more expensive, bulk 
for bulk. than are carnations. Several 
years ago, at one of the conventions of 
the Society of American Florists, an 
essayist seemed to think that,in a few 
years, Orchids would become as_ plentiful 
and popular as Roses; but the predic- 
tion has not been and will not be verified 
for two reasons ; first they more 
difficult to cultivate and produce and, 
second, because of this difficulty their 
price will never become popular. 
are 
The development and improvement 
of the Carnation have taken place with 
comparatively recent both as 
regards the size colour, and quality of 
its flowers and the number of desirable 
varieties. Thirty or forty years since, 
the florist was confined mainly to such 
kinds as Edwardsii, De Grauw, La Purites 
Miss Jolliffand Astoria. 
‘ Buttercup one of the best of the 
earlier yellows, although like most of the 
later kinds of that colour, decidedly bizarre 
came later;and was followed by Grace 
Wilber, Albertini, Mrs. Bradt and a host, 
of other slowly improving kinds, until the 
lift of aspirants for .a place on the Car- 
pation stage reached well up into the 
hundreds. 
Daybreak, oridinated and disseminated 
by Simmons of Geneva, Ohio, was one of 
the best and most profitable Carnations 
of its day, which is now over, and was 
probably one of the progenitors of the 
fine variety Enchantress and other kinds 
having the Daybreak shade of pink. 
William Scott was another easily grown 
and useful sort, but it, too, is now eclipsed. 
time, 
While the Carnation is not a native of 
this continent, certain writers speak of 
the varieties now. in conclusion here, 
cellectively, asthe American Carnation ; . 
but abetter term would bein American 
varieties of Carnations, as they nearly all 
originated here. 
_At the Royal sttory, held at Newcastle: 
on-Tyne, England,in,1908 and practically. . 
open to all. exhibitors, - many vases of 
British Carnations were shown, having, in 
the. main, stiff stem,.and large flowers ; 
put the flowers were nearly all of coarse | 
texture, and the most of them had_ split, . 
calyces ; decidediy the finest Carnations 
in the great Show were those of American 
origin. 
— Its Value in Decorations. — 
Carnation flowers may be appropriately 
used on many occasions and in a variety 
of ways ; from a single flower on a coat. 
lapel to the most elaborate floral design 
or other form of decoration. 
They are welcomed in the sick room, or 
the hospital ward. are suitable for the 
placements or the centerpiece for the 
dinner table, and clusters or sprays of the 
- flowers, when arranged with taste and 
skill in combination with a suflicient. 
amount of suitable greenery, are much 
asked for and appreciated for funeral 
occasions ; whileno flower can be used to 
better advantage in a pleasing arangement 
to place beside the door of the house where 
death has entered in lieu of the somber 
crape ; and, because of their excellent 
lasting quality, they are one of the very 
best: flowers to use to send a long distance, 
or when they are required to be kept for 
a considerable time before being used. 
If it were not for being so wasteful 
many of the arrangements of Carnation 
flowers would be improved in appearance 
if Carnation~ buds and foliage were 
combined with the flowers, 
For the uses enumerated, the Carnation 
flowers should be of good quality ; to 
produce such, the propagation and culture 
of the plants, and the gathering and care 
of the flowers after being grown, must be 
carefully and properly attended  to,. 
necessitating unflagging attention on the. 
part of the grower. This is not alone the 
case with the Carnation plants and flowers 
but applies as well to all the stock in the 
florist‘s domain, a fact which all p!ants- 
men do not seem to appreciate. 
'f eternal yigilance is the price of 
liberty, ‘it is no less the price of good 
plants and flowers ; the difference in the 
success of various florists may generally 
be ascribed to the continous care bestowed 
on his stock by the successful grower. and 
the intermittent care and partial neglect 
in this respect, of his less successful 
neighbour. 
YOMMERCIAL AND ORNAMEN- 
/ AL PRINTING of every descrip- 
tion, in first-class style, on the shortest. 
notice, and at cheapest rates, at tho. 
sy Australian Gardener” Printing Works, | 
Scrymgour’s Buildings, 20 Waymouth 
Stréet, Adelaide. 
