698 Bulletin 320 



the race, was white-seeded like the parent and germinated very poorly, 

 especially the year of its introduction. It appears that even among 

 white-seeded peas this is probably the most sensitive to imfavorable 

 conditions diiring germination. 



Pink Cupid was discovered among plants of Blanche Ferry in 1895 and 

 was introduced by Burpee in 1898. Burpee had purchased the stock of 

 1,068 seeds, for which he reported paying the sum of $1,500 — probably 

 the largest simi ever paid for a new variety of sweet peas. This variety 

 was similar to Blanche Ferry in all characteristics except its dwarf 

 habit. 



A yellow sport found among White Cupid was introduced by Burpee 

 in 1899 ^s Primrose Cupid. 



During the seven years following the introduction of the original Cupid 

 sweet pea a great number of varieties appeared, reproducing all the known 

 colors and types of the tall-growing varieties. " Several of our best 

 Cupids," says Morse, " were found originally in the tall varieties but the 

 majority were developed by crossing."* 



Laxton Brothers, of Bedford, England, began crossing upon Cupid soon 

 after its introduction, and at the bicentenary celebration in 1900 it was 

 reported that this firm had dwarf counterparts of Purple, Dark Blue 

 Striped, Captain Clarke, Rose, Light Blue Striped, Invincible Blue, 

 Invincible Carmine, Invincible Red, Invincible Black, Sultan, Rising Sun, 

 Boreatton, Princess Beatrice, Princess May, Princess of Wales, Etna, 

 Vesuvius, Indigo King, Pale Madame Carnot, Waverly, Primrose, Carmine 

 Striped, and Countess of Radnor. 



It will be noticed that many of these were representatives of tall varie- 

 ties that were obsolete or were passing out, and of course were not equal 

 to such varieties of Cupid as Beauty, Alice Eckford, and Firefly, which 

 had been introduced by that time. 



Varieties of cupid sweet peas 



White, or " Cupid," 1896 



Pink, 1898 



Alice Eckford, 1899 



Beauty, 1899. Similar to Eliza Eckford 



Primrose, 1899 



Boreatton, 1900 



Countess of Radnor, 1900 



Firefly, 1900 



Apple Blossom, 1901 



* Waldo E. Rohnert reports the results of crossing the tall varieties upon the Cupid sweet pea in Bulletin 

 127 (1897}, Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. 



