Carnation-culture is most fascinating, whether growing from seed be adventured, piping and layering be favoured, or all three be indulged in, and flowers successfully produced by any of the practices may be very beautiful.

There are selfs of many colours and shades, clove-scented and odourless, flakes and striped varieties, large-bloomed and small, tall-growing and dwarfs, compact marguerites on short stalks and quick-flowering, each taking some care to cultivate, but all repaying the trouble, especially when experience has shown the way to avoid failure.

Then there are the aristocrats of carnationdom, the winter or perpetual sorts that lord it indoors when gardens are at their barest. The latter are propagated chiefly from cuttings, and grown along in slightly-heated, well-aired frames or houses to tall flower growth, with beautiful results at the year end, when the cutting striking commences de novo.

The best soil to grow carnations in, either as pot plants or in beds, is one-third well-rotted cow-dung and two-thirds rich maiden loam from mellow decayed turves, free from insect life.

Pipings are young shoots drawn from the joints and started to root in light sandy compost under a hand glass; cuttings, shoots which will not layer conveniently, and layers--the surest way of propagating of all--the bending down, underslitting, and ground-pegging into good soil of strong side-shoots from the flowering plants in summer, late June to August. These are detached and potted off after rooting.

Many pot them in pairs, and they should be well-drained, eight-and-a-half inch pots being a good size to employ.

Careful staking is requisite when the flower stalks are put forth.

Keep away wire-worms from the roots and green fly from the grass.