212 



HORTICULTURE 



August 15, 190S 



^>*V'<* * 



CYCLAMEN 



NEW CROP 



To obtain large flowering plants for Thanks- 

 giving and Christmas 1909, seeds should be 

 sown now. For the florist, our Giant Cycla- 

 men is unsurpassed. 



Giant Crimson Giant Blood Red 

 Giant Salmon Giant Fink 



Giant Excelsior, 



White with 

 claret base 



Giant White Giant Cherry Red 



Picturatum, 



Pink with 

 claret base 



Price per 1000 seeds, $10.10 

 100 seeds, $1.00 



R. & J. FARQUHAR & CO. 



6 & 7 So. Market St., BOSTON, MASS. 



SWEET PEA REVIEW FOR 1908. 



At Fordhook the sweet peas in com- 

 mon with the other vegetable and 

 flower trials have suffered from the 

 di ought, hut the showers of July 4th 

 and later made the vines jump and at 

 the time of inspection, the trials look 

 very much better than we expected to 

 find them and we must pause to re- 

 mark that it is a magnificent sight to 

 look over this piece of something 

 more than two acres in which have 

 been planted 517 samples: —(323 graud- 

 iflora and older types: S of the so- 

 called doubles: 142 novelties sent out 

 in 1903 or to be introduced in 1909; 

 3 6 bush and 2? cupid varieties. 



The Re-Selected Earliest of All and 

 Earliest White are now podding— 

 showing that they came into bloom 

 very early notwithstanding the poor 

 season. Earliest White has for several 

 seasons proved to be the earliest 

 variety planted at Fordhook. Dorothy 

 Eckford is still to the fore in the 

 grandiflora whites while Shasta with 

 its fluted petals is of value to florists 

 as is also White Wonder owing to its 

 tendency to produce sprays of from 

 five to eight flowers and some of these 

 occasionally doubling in the standard. 

 In the Prim-ose class of grandiflora 

 The Hun. Mis. E. Kenyon still holds 

 her own. While Mis. Collier (prac- 

 tically a Primrose Dorothy Eckford I 

 may be of better substance, yet the 

 color does not seem quite so deep. 



In light pinks. Modesty. Lovely, and 

 Katharine Tracy still show up well. 

 Eckford's Agnes Johnston is a beauty. 

 Janet Scott is still the best of her 

 class while old Prima Donna will ap- 



peal to those desirous of obtaining a 

 lighter shade. Among the scarlets and 

 reds who would ever have expected in 

 sweet peas such glorious coloring as is 

 found in King Edward VII and Queen 

 Alexandra? For brightness we prefer 

 Queen Alexandra, but for form think 

 King Edward VII is the better. 



In the darker colors there has been 

 added this year Midnight, a sport from 

 David R. Williamson. 30 (lark a purple 

 and with standard and wings so nearly 

 alike in color as to give the flower 

 quite a black appearance. In the 

 striped and mottled class Helen Pierce, 

 which has a white ground mottled and 

 flaked with a bluish lavender, now 

 holds first place. In the lavender or 

 mauve class we note that Flora Norton 

 and Miss H. C. Philbrick are identical. 



Navy Clue, for some years con- 

 sidered the best of the blue or purple 

 varieties, will now be superseded by 

 Brilliant Blue, a variety identical with 

 Lord Nelson, recently introduced in 

 England. In the orange and salmon 

 cless, Henry Eckford requires to be 

 shaded during the blooming period to 

 bring out the color and prevent burn- 

 ing and for this reason will never 

 become as popular as some other varie- 

 ties. Earl Cromer, one of Eckford's 

 recent introductions, is a peculiar 

 shade of magenta and burns a dis- 

 agreeable color in our climate. 



As to the Spencer and TJnwin types 

 it is now gon, rally conceded that the 

 Spencer class produces flowers that 

 are larger in size and more decidedly 

 crinkled or waved in the wings. Seed 

 of Countess Spencer the first of this 

 race, found its way to America about 

 1903 and owing to its open keel it was 



difficult to fix the variety true to 

 color. Perhaps if it had not been for 

 this open keel it would have been 

 some time before we were able to ob- 

 tain the different colors now offered in 

 this new type. The TJnwin type or- 

 iginated a few years after the 

 Spencer. 



Apple Blossom, the White and the 

 Primrose Spencers, Burpee introduc- 

 tions in 19oS, have bloomed well, but 

 unfortunately are not yet thoroughly 

 fixed as to type although the flowers 

 that fail to show the crinkled effect 

 are of fine substance and tremendous 

 size. Countess Spencer is a soft rosy 

 pink, while Florence Morse Spencer, 

 is best described as a lighter pink- 

 edged Countess Spencer. John Ing- 

 man is rosy crimson but will eventu- 

 ally have to give way to George Her- 

 bert, a bright rosy carmine. Paradise 

 is too near Countess Spencer to be 

 considered a separate variety. The 

 Marquis is of a rosy heliotrope color 

 but not so large as some of the other 

 Spencers. Princess Victoria is some- 

 what similar to Florence Morse Spen- 

 cer and does not seem to be wanted. 

 Menie Christie has flowers that show 

 the fluted effect and is very similar 

 in color to the old Captivation which 

 has been described as a deep magenta, 

 but we think a better description is 

 standard rosy purple with wings much 

 more purple. 



A.mong the new varieties which have 

 been planted at Fordhook for the first 

 time are: — 



Aurora Spencer, much brighter and 

 handsomer than the Grandiflora Auro- 

 ra and distinctly of the Spencer type; 

 Dorothy Tennant Spencer, a large 



