214 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



work has now been taken np by Rev. W. T. Ilutcliins, of Indian 

 Oreliard, Massachusetts ; and it has remained for him to make the 

 first important attempt to write any account of the modern sweet 

 pea. His booklet, "All About 8weet Peas," appeared in ISO-t; 

 and he has been and is still the most devoted grower and champion 

 of sweet peas upon this side of the Atlantic. This is not saying 

 that he is the largest grower, for this honor is held by C. C. Morse 

 & Co., of California, whose crop of sweet peas covered 250 acres in 

 1895, and this firm has also produced a number of excellent varieties. 

 But Mr. Hutchins is an amateur sweet pea critic, whilst Mr. Morse 

 grows the seeds for market. W. Atlee Burpee & Co., of Philadel- 

 phia, were amongst the first retail seedsmen to take up the sweet 

 pea. The first sweet pea show of any note in this country was held 

 under the inspiration of Mr. Hutchins at Springfield, Mass., in 1893. 



Although this great improvement in the sweet pea is so recent, 

 the plant has been long in cultivation. It is native to Italy, and 

 was introduced into England about 1700. Its Latin name, Lathyrus 

 odoratus, was given by Linnaeus in 1753. In 1754, Philip Miller, 

 a famous English garden-botanist, speaks of two distinct varieties in 

 the fourth edition of his " Gardener's Dictionary " : " One of these 

 has pale red Flowers, which is commonly called by the Gardeners, 

 Painted-lady Peas; the other hath intire white Flowers: both these 

 may be allowed a Place in the Borders of the Flower-garden, for 

 the sake of Variety." William Curtis had a colored plate of a 

 purple form in his " Botanical Magazine " in 1788, and speaks as 

 follows of the plant : " There is scarcely a plant more generally cul- 

 tivated than the Sweet Pea, and no wonder, since with the most 

 delicate blossoms it unites an agreeable fragrance. Several varieties 

 of this plant are enumerated by authors, but general cultivation 

 extends to two only, the one with blossoms perfectly white, the 

 other white and rose-colored, commonly called the Painted Lady 

 Pea. * * ■* They have both been introduced since the time of 

 Parkinson and Evelyn." 



In America, M'Mahon mentions the sweet pea amongst his 

 "hardy annual flower-seeds," in his "Gardener's Calendar," in 1806. 

 He knew five varieties, as follows : 



Var. albis (white). 



Var. carneo, old Painted Lady. 



