For early blooming, the best sorts are the wellknown Gen. Jacqueminot, Anna de Diesbach, Mrs. John Laing and Magna Charta. For late sorts, in addition to the above, Gloire de Margottin, Ulrich Brunner and Baroness Rothschild can be used, and with good care will give satisfaction. CHAPTER II. THE CARNATION. Although the old garden pink and the carnation, or gillyflower, as it was called, have long been grown, there being over three hundred varieties as far back as 1676, the florist's carnation of to-day is comparatively a modern creation. The first real step in its development was made by Dalmais, of Lyons, France, some fifty years since, and they were further improved by Alegatiere, who, in 1866, developed varieties with stiff stems. The origination of new varieties has been taken up by quite a number of American florists, and they have met with remarkable success. The method pursued is by careful and systematic cross-fertilization. When skilfully performed, perhaps fifty per cent of the seedlings will give double flowers, and five per cent may have enough promise to warrant their further trial. The improvement is along the lines of size, shape, fra grance and color of the flowers, the vigor and freedom of bloom in the plant, the length and stiffness of stem, and the perfection of the calyx; and although much has been achieved, there is promise of great progress in the future. Within the past ten years the demand for carnation flowers has greatly increased, and this has led to the erection of many large establishments devoted almost entirely to growing them. We also find a considerable number of florists whose principal business is the growing of hundreds of thousands of rooted cuttings and plants, for sale to other florists. The reason for the demand need not long be sought for, as it is very evident that the carnation, as a flower available the year round, has few, if any, equals. It is showy and attractive, its colors are well adapted for use in decoration and for personal adornment, it has a pleasing fragrance, and the flowers are far more lasting than those of the rose and most other plants, and these points in its favor, together with the fact that they are sold at a comparatively low price, have made it the people's flower, and led to the great growth in carnation culture. PROPAGATION. For ordinary greenhouse cultivation, the plants are generally started from cuttings as early as November or December, although with a favorable summer for their growth, strong plants can be obtained by the last of August from cuttings struck as late as March. If desired for summer blooming, they should be struck as early even as October, and if flowers are desired in the early fall, the making of the cuttings should not be delayed after November. Another reason for making the cuttings so early is that at that time the plants are strong and vigorous, while later on they will be weakened by flower production, and by the forcing process to which they are subjected during the winter. As often propagated, it is not strange that varieties run out, but with proper care much can be done to prevent it, if the cuttings are rightly selected. Above all, they should not be made from plants that are in any way diseased or that have been flowering freely for a long period. The best cuttings are made from side shoots of flowering stems, and it is a good plan not to pull them until the flowers have opened, as one can then tell what the flowers of the cuttings are likely to be. The portions used for cuttings should be firm rather than soft and watery, but should not be the weak, puny stems that weak plants often send out. While the best results can be secured from the suckers that form around the base of the plants, the strong pips along the sides of the stems may be used and will make good plants. These shoots may be pulled from the plants, and by removing some of the lower leaves the cuttings may be FIG. 6. TWO TYPES OF CARNATION CUTTINGS. prepared without the use of a knife. The terminal lcaves, if very long, may be cut back (Fig. 6). Cuttings may be rooted either in propagating beds or in boxes of sand. covered with a thin layer of cinders, or gravel, and about three inches of clean, sharp sand should then be put on. While it is not desirable to use sand that is very coarse or very fine, the character of the sand makes comparatively little difference, provided it is not of a quicksand nature and is free from organic matter. The sand should be compacted and thoroughly wet down, and the cuttings set in rows about two inches apart and three-quarters of an inch between the plants in the rows. After a row is in place, the soil should be firmly pressed about them, and a narrow groove made for another row. The cutting bed should be in a temperature of fifty to fifty-five deg.ees at night, while five to ten degrees of bottom heat are desirable but not necessary; during the day the house should be thoroughly ventilated and the temperature kept as near sixty degrees as possible. Unless the cutting bed is in a north-side house, into which no direct rays can enter, the cuttings will require shading from nine until three o'clock on sunny days, and should be kept rather close for at least the first week. The cuttings should not be allowed to get dry, as, if the lower ends of the cuttings become parched, they may as well be thrown out. The beds should be sprinkled on bright mornings, and under favorable conditions roots will form in three or four weeks. POTTING OFF. As soon as the roots have developed, the plants should be placed in flats of good soil, or in beds, at intervals of two inches each way. Some growers find that it pays them to pot off the cuttings, using two-inch rose pots, while others greatly reduce the labor by keeping them in the cutting box until they are planted in the field. Very good results can be obtained by this method with late-struck cuttings, provided an inch of rich soil is placed in the bottom of the box, and covered with two inches of sand. After the roots have been formed in the sand, they will find their way into the soil below, and thus obtain nourishment until they are planted out. After being boxed or potted off, the young plants should be kept at a temperature of fifty degrees until they have become well established. If, during this time, any of the plants start to throw up a flower stalk, the center bud should be pulled out, or the plant pinched back, and all future attempts at flowering should be checked by pulling out the terminal leaves from any plant that shows the least tendency towards it. As soon as the plants begin to thi en up, it is well to remove them to a cool house, or o pit, where the temperature will be thirty-five to forty aegrees. In the case of the December-struck cuttings, this will give them an opportunity to rest, and the plant will be less subject to disease than if kept growing continuously throughout the winter. At any rate, it is desirable that the young plants be established in the boxes by the first of March, that they may be removed to the cold frame early in April and become sufficiently hardened to be planted out between the 20th of April and the first of May. The planting time should be as early as the ground can be worked, and danger of severe frost is over. If taken at once from a greenhouse, they would be injured by the least frost, but if gradually hardened in a cold frame, a slight frost will not injure them. SOIL FOR CARNATIONS. Although in selecting a soil for planting out carnations, very light sand, heavy clay, or muck, should be avoided, almost any average loam soil adapted to the growing of vegetables will be suitable for the purpose. Given a congenial climate, and a medium heavy loam soil, with a proper supply of plant food, and an abundance of moisture, but with good drainage, there will be little trouble in growing carnations. The land should be well enriched with decomposed manure, and deeply plowed the previous fall, and in the spring plowed and dragged smooth. If manure cannot be readily obtained, one thousand pounds per acre of ground bone, or dissolved bone black, will help out. The rows may be as narrow as one foot, or as wide as two and a half, or two |