712 Bulletin 320 



ation — that is, Henry Eckford, St. George, and Helen Lewis — the salmon 

 varieties, and possibly some of the scarlets and blues, should be shaded 

 for four to six days previous to the time the flowers will be needed. The 

 shade should be so arranged that it can be removed at night. 



The sweet peas having been well grown, with stems twelve to fifteen 

 inches long, the next consideration is the cutting of the flowers; for it is 

 one thing to grow good flowers, and quite another, but equally difficult, 

 to exhibit successfully. 



Sweet pea flowers, especially for exhibition, should be cut while dry, 

 preferably in the morning or evening. The proper stage of development 

 will depend on the number of hours that must elapse before the judge 

 can pass upon the exhibit. Flowers cut the day before exhibiting should 

 be taken with the lower flowers open and the top one in bud. Those 

 with four flowers on a spike may be taken with the two lower flowers 

 open, the third flower opening, and the topmost one in the bud. The 

 flowers should be placed immediately in cool, hard water and left in a cool, 

 dark room or cellar until they are packed. Here they are left until the 

 latest moment consistent with their timely arrival at the exhibition hall, 

 not more than six or seven hours if possible. 



When packing, the stems should be squeezed in order to remove sur- 

 plus water and then wrapped in a strip of oiled paper. Great care should 

 be exercised not to get water on the flowers. Each bunch should be 

 wrapped in tissue paper and the bunches packed firmly, but not so tightly 

 as to crush the flowers. 



Everything possible should be done to insure the prompt arrival of 

 the flowers at the exhibition hall, when they should be unpacked without 

 delay. The flowers should be loosely arranged so that they may resume 

 their natural form after the joiirney. 



The flowers having been put in water, the work of arranging the 

 exhibition vases should begin. George W. Kerr, an experienced exhibitor, 

 gives the following on the arrangement of the flowers: 



" In staging the flowers never crowd them. Let every flower ' speak 

 for itself.' Twenty sprays make a nice vase, and the best method of 

 arranging them is to start by putting some grass (cut two inches long) 

 in the mouth of the vase, as this helps to keep the stems in position. Each 

 stem must be put in separately. Let every flower be seen as far as possible 

 and all face one way, with the exception of such varieties as have the back 

 of the standards tinted in coloring other than the ground color of the 

 flower, when the position of such might be judiciously varied. One or 

 two pieces of foliage — a Httle Gysophila — or light grass, such as Agrostis 

 neublosa, might with advantage be used. But this should not be over- 

 done, and only if the rules allow of it. 



