Winter-flowering Sweet Peas 621 



FORCING sweet PEAS 



Fifteen years ago sweet peas were usually fairly plentiful in the markets 

 of the large cities about the first of April, and sometimes flowers were 

 seen as early as the last week in February. Among the varieties grown 

 were Blanche Ferry, Lottie Eckford, Emily Henderson, and Katherine 

 Tracy. The seeds were usually sown in August or September in pots 

 and benched after chrysanthemums, or seeds were planted in carnation 

 benches and the plants trained on the purlin supports of the greenhouse. 

 William Scott advocated the above methods, especially the latter, as 

 he asserted that the plants did not make much growth until the bright 

 spring days when there was sufficient sunshine for both carnations and 

 sweet peas. 



Florists have been growing sweet peas, under glass to a limited extent 

 for a number of 3^ears. Soon after the introduction of Blanche Ferry, 

 at least twenty years ago, this variety was tried under glass. The first 

 record of sweet peas being grown under glass in any other than a very 

 limited way is in 1897, when, Mr. Zvolanek states, he grew three houses 

 of them, thus becoming undoubtedly the largest grower in the country 

 at that time. In March of that year, sweet peas, white and pink, were 

 reported as very plentiful in the New York market, selhng at first at 

 twenty-five cents for a bunch of twelve sprays. 



Previous to the introduction of the Zvolanek varieties in 1906, besides 

 the varieties above given, the following were grown: Emily Eckford, 

 Golden Gleam, Countess of Radnor. 



LEADING types 



Christmas-Howenng group 



This group of winter-flowering sweet peas was developed by Anton 

 C. Zvolanek, now of Bound Brook, N. J., who doubtless suppHed The 

 Weekly Florists' Review with the following account of their origin, appear- 

 ing in the issue of that periodical for April 13, 1899, page 495: 



Sweet peas under glass 

 " The accompanying engraving is from a photograph taken January 

 6 last, of a house of sweet peas at the establishment of Mr. Ant. C. Zvolanek, 

 West Hoboken, N. J. The boxes seen in the picture are 6 inches wide 

 and 6 inches deep. The seed was sown in these boxes, out of doors, 

 September 2, and the boxes taken inside the last week in October. The 

 plants began to bloom November 20, and the first cut of 200 flowers was 

 sent to market November 24. The house was 12 x 73 feet and built 

 of sash containing 6x8-inch glass. The temperature given was 45 



