7o6 



Bulletin 320 



should be given supports of short twigs and placed in a cold frame. Here 

 they should be given plenty of air at every opportunity, in order to secure 

 a short, sturdy growth. If the plants do not catch hold firmly, they 

 may be tied with raffia. When spring begins and the soil is in good con- 

 dition, the pots may be planted in the open, one foot apart in a single 

 row or two feet apart in a double row. In the latter case, the plants 

 alternate as shown below: 



Fig. 186. — Sweet peas transplanted from pots 



Supports 



Sticks. — Among English sweet pea growers there is considerable una- 

 nimity of opinion that sticks form the best support for sweet peas. The 

 replies of fifty- two leading experts, pubHshed in the Sweet Pea Annual 

 for 1907, show that forty-three growers favor sticks (generally hazel 

 sticks), five favor wire netting, two favor either sticks or wire netting — 

 and, if the netting is new, paint it — one prefers sticks and string, and 

 the remaining one, a correspondent from British Columbia, uses telephone 

 wire and string. 



In this country, where good twiggy boughs can be obtained, such boughs 

 unquestionably form the best support to use since they are the most natural. 



