Culture of the Sweet Pea 707 



In many places birches can be obtained in lengths of twelve to fourteen 

 feet. These may be prepared in the lengths desired. 



How tall should the support be? The grower is the one to determine 

 that. If the soil has been prepared properly and the plants look strong, 

 a.nd if the grower sees that the plants are watered and given every care, 

 then the support should be six feet high. If the soil is only moderately 

 fertile or has not been deeply prepared, or if the grower does not intend 

 to keep all seed pods picked off or cannot water the plants in order to over- 

 come drought, the support should be kept down to four feet. The variety 

 has something to do with the height of the support, whatever the care 

 bestowed, some varieties being naturally dwarf er growers. 



The sticks should be cut in late winter or very early spring, so that 

 they are still rather green and tough enough to bear the load until the end 

 of the season. They should be inserted in the soil at least a foot, because 

 when clothed with vines to a height of six feet a strong windstorm exerts 

 a tremendous leverage on them. Unless the sticks have been inserted 

 deeply, or if they have become too dead and brittle, the row will go down 

 under the force of the wind and the great weight of the wet vines. In 

 order to guard against disaster, strong stakes are sometimes placed every 

 ten feet and wire is run lengthwise through the sticks and fastened to 

 the stakes. It is desirable to have the sticks bushy at the top, so that 

 they spread out more than at the base; if not naturally so, leaning the 

 sticks alternately outward will produce this result. This gives greater 

 freedom for the vines when in flower. 



After the sticks are inserted, a better effect is produced if the tops 

 are clipped to a level and straggling ends are cut back. If the sticks 

 are not " feathered " sufficiently at the base for the plants to get started 

 up on them, the clippings from the tops may be inserted between the tall 

 sticks. Some growers make a practice — and it is a good one — of provid- 

 ing a light support when the plants are one to three inches high, and later 

 placing the tall sticks. For the light support they often use old 

 raspberry canes or the old stems of our wild aster — in fact, anything 

 of a light, much branching character. This affords protection from high 

 winds when the plants are small. 



Netting. — When other systems of supporting are to be employed it 

 is quite imperative to provide a support of small, short twigs as soon as 

 the seedlings begin to produce tendrils. This method prevents the rain 

 from beating the small plants down, and enables them to get up to the 

 other support. In city gardens, owing to the difficulty in procuring 

 suitable sticks, wire netting makes a very satisfactory support. The 

 peas do not cling to it so well but it is cleaner and neater in ajjpearance, 

 which is a compensating advantage. The large mesh, four-inch, is pref- 



