688 Bulletin 320 



It was in 1865 that the First Class Certificate of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society was first awarded to a new sweet pea. This was the variety 

 called Scarlet Invincible, exhibited by Steven Brown, of Sudbury, and 

 offered in Carter's catalog for 1866, where it was both described and 

 ilkistrated. This was the first illustration of a sweet pea novelty ever 

 published in a seedsman's catalog. 



James Vick's " Illustrated Catalogue and Flower Guide " for 1870, 

 under the division of Ornamental Climbers, gives the following varieties 

 of sweet peas: Scarlet, Scarlet striped with White, White, Purple striped 

 with White, Painted Lady, Blue Edged, Black, Black with Light Blue, 

 and Scarlet Invincible. 



The prices may be of interest, for Mr. Vick says: " I am so desirous to 

 encourage the general culture of this sweet flower that I have made the 

 price very low — the papers are large and the price by the pound and ounce 

 about cost." The first five varieties were offered at 10 cents per packet, 

 20 cents per ounce, $3 per pound; Blue Edged, 30 cents per ounce, $4.50 

 per pound; the last three, 15 cents per packet, 40 cents per ounce, $6 per 

 pound; mixed seed, 10 cents per ounce, $1 per pound. 



About this time (previous to 1870) Messrs. Haage & Schmidt, of Erfurt, 

 sent out Crown Princess of Prussia, the beautiful light pink variety. In 

 1873-1874 the same firm sent out Fairy Queen, which was a leading 

 variety for many years. Butterfly, quite similar to Blue Edged, was 

 introduced by Sutton & Sons in 1878. A color plate of this appeared in 

 The Garden, Vol. 13, 1878, p. 44. 



Messrs. Carter had the honor of publishing the first colored illustration 

 of a new sweet pea to appear in a seedsman's catalog, when they sent 

 out Violet Queen in 1877. 



Prior to 1881 the following varieties had appeared: Purple, White, 

 Painted Lady, Scarlet, Black, Purple, Striped White, New Painted Lady, 

 Large Dark Purple, Yellow, Blue Edged, Scarlet Invincible, Scarlet 

 striped with White, Black Invincible, Crown Princess of Prussia, Fairy 

 Queen, Purple Invincible, Invincible Striped Violet Queen, Heterosperma, 

 The Queen, Captain Clarke, and Imperial Purple. The opening decade 

 (1880), however, was to witness great things for the sweet pea, for about 

 this time two capable florists began work on the improvement of the flower. 

 Those men were Thomas Laxton and Henry Eckford. 



Mr. Laxton, of Bedford, commenced about 1877 and for several years 

 worked assiduously in this field. In 1883 he won a First Class Certificate 

 from the Royal Horticultural Society for the excellent variety Invincible 

 Carmine. It is said that this variety is the earliest recorded from cross- 

 fertilization, for, although the exact varieties are unknown, it was a cross 

 of a red-flowered with a purple-flowered variety. Mr. Laxton appears 



