340 State Horticultural Society. 



shade well to llic end of the l)l()oniino- season. Dorolliy Tenuant 

 is a splendid sort, but it is not true lavender, and will not do to mix 

 with Countess of Radnor, a very important consideration in growing 

 peas for market. 



Of pinks, I have found nothing better than Janet Scott, which I 

 shall grow the coming season to the exclusion of all other pinks, ex- 

 cepting for experiment. When the new Countess Spencer has been 

 bred up until it comes true, I believe we shall have a better pink than 

 the Katherine Tracy, but it is too fickle yet to grow for market, al- 

 though well worth a place in ever\- home planting, as are the Countess 

 Spencer Hybrids, which come in four distinct shades of pink. 



For growing for florist trade, there is small need for any other sorts 

 than I have mentioned, comprising three solid colors only — white, 

 pink and lavender, and the pink and white of the Blanche Ferry. There 

 is almost no demand for anything else. Salmon pinks, reds, maroons, 

 blues and most of the variegated sorts are a drug on the market. For 

 home flowers, however, every one should have the brilliant red Solopian, 

 or. what I think may be even a better red. King Edward VII. He 

 should also have ]\Iiss Willmot, described in the catalogues as an "or- 

 ange rose," but more nearly fitting my idea of a salmon pink ; Aurora, a 

 beautiful striped salmon and white, which is the delight of a collection 

 until the setting in a hot, dry weather, after which there will be few 

 perfectly developed flowers ; and Wauronia, a striped heliotrope and 

 white, which has none of the "calico" efifcct so objectionable in many of 

 the variegated peas. 



The varieties I have mentioned do not, of course, include all of 

 the good ones, but they are all good ones — long tested under widely 

 varying conditions. For home growing many prefer their sweet peas 

 mixed. The sorts I have named, without any others, make a superb 

 mixture, and can be bought separately as cheap as the cheapest mixture 

 you can buy anywhere. I am a newspaper man and do not believe in 

 free advertising, but let me tell you that the place to buy sweet peas of 

 the best quality and most cheaply is of Burpee, Philadelphia, or of 

 Vaughan, Chicago. They sell four single ounces for a quarter. For 

 50 cents, therefore, one can buy an ounce each of the eight sorts, which 

 I especially recommend. This will plant 240 feet of single row, and 

 mixed, will give an infinitely more beautiful and satisfactory a display 

 than an}- ready-made mixture that can be bought anywhere at any 

 price. 



To repeat, the eight sorts I should buy are : 



Earliest of All, pink and white. 



