628 



H ORTICU LTURU 



May 9, 1908 



WINTER-FLOWERING SWEET 



PEAS. 



(Read hefoie the Gardeners' and Floiists' 

 ("lub of Boston by Wm. Sim.) 



{Cortinued from pagt 411) 



Types. 



Thpre are three types of the early 

 sweet pea, tbo wavy or Speacer type, 

 the oommou type with the broad, 

 straight blantlard, and the incurved or 

 hooded type. As yet the Spencer type 

 seems to me a little sott ifor ooramer- 

 cial purposes, but this fault may be 

 remedied in new varieties. The stand- 

 ard which is wavy has not got the 

 strength of the eommon type, and they 

 fold togerher when they are bunched 

 in such a way as to make them look 

 small, althougli the flowers are larger 

 than the common type. The common 

 type although not so large as the Spen- 

 cer type, is the best for commercial 

 purposes: their stiff straight standards 

 do not fold together, and the flowers 

 remain open. The incurved or hooded 

 are the least desirable; their flowers 

 are incurved and Icok small beside the 

 ordinary type. They, however, have 

 very long, wiry stems, and some of the 

 best fancy varieties are of this type. 

 They also are very strong growers. 



Hybridization. 



Most of the varieties with the excep- 

 tion of the ones sent out first, are the 

 results of crossing the early and late 

 varieties. This is done at the time the 

 two types are in liloom together. Mrs. 

 Charles Totty, Mrs. Alexander Wallace, 

 Mrs. George Lewis, CliristmKS Captain, 

 W. W. Smalley and a number more are 

 the result.s of crossing the two types. 

 Varieties raised by crossing the early 

 type with the same type are usually 

 weak grow^er.s. ft seems to take the 

 blood of the late varieties to give them 

 constitution. I noticed this the past 

 winter on a batch of recrossed Christ- 

 mas; this was the Christmas crossed 

 on the late flowering Blanche Ferry. 

 There was about f^fty per cent, of the 

 old type among them, but the early 

 flowering ones were very much strong- 

 er and produced stronger flowers on 

 longer stems than Cha-istmas and grew 

 three feet higher. 



Strains. 



There are new strains of these peas 

 in England, Germany and Algeria. I 

 am unable to give much information 

 about these as I have never managed 

 to get any of the seed. I have seen 

 the Algerian strain growing at Mr. 

 Zvolanek's; they were not in flower 

 then, but the growth and habit was 

 Identical to what we have here. ±ifa 

 later sent me some of the flowers. 

 They were of very poor color and 

 variety; in fact they were certainly 

 ten years behind what we have here 

 now. Flowers of the English strain 

 resemble the Algerian strain and Mr. 

 Zvolanek says they are the same va- 

 rieties or mixture he sold five years 

 ago to the firms who are selling the 

 seed. It is very hard for the raiser 

 to hold the stock of any one variety, 

 because it is sent to California to be 

 grown along for seed, and while there 

 the seed can be carried from one place 

 to another. 



Sweet Pea Society. 



What we need here now Is an Ameri- 

 can Sweet Pea Society for at the pres- 



FM1VH5ST LOT OI? 



HARDY HYBRID RHODODENDRONS 



ALSO DWARF RHODODENDRONS 

 ANDROHEDA FLORIBUNDA 



READY FOR IMMEDIATE SHIPMENT 

 OEei>BEe Tor>A."v 



EASTERN NURSERIES, 



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 MASS. 



RHODODENDRONS, ANDROMEDAS, KALMIAS 

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BAQSHOT, - - - = ENGLAND 



ent time there is nothing to prevent 

 any one from selling sweet peas 

 under any name he pleases. We have 

 Earliest of All, Christmas Pink and 

 Xmas Pink. These three varieties are 

 the same in every particular. The 

 selected Earliest of All is earlier than 

 the other, but the flowers of all three 

 are identical. There is Mont Blanc 

 and Florence Denzer; these two are 

 identical. There is also Zvolanek's 

 Watchung, Burpee's Earliest White 

 and White Bird; these are all identi- 

 cal. We have Flamingo and Chistmas 

 Red, which are identical and Sunbeams 

 and Canary Bird which are also iden- 

 tical. Aside from keeping the names 

 straight it would stimulate the grow- 

 ing of sweet peas, and no doubt many 

 would go into the improving of them 

 in the way the carnation men have 

 done with the carnation. If a num- 

 ber would get together with this in 

 view it would be hard to predict what 

 the sweet pea would be like ten years 

 from now. Just fancy what an exhibi- 

 tion vou could have if a number got 

 together and did as the carnation men 

 have done. The sweet pea is every- 

 body's flower, being within the reach 

 of all. Thus far Mr. Zvolanek seems 

 to be about the only one to improve 

 this class. It is only a few years ago 

 that the first of this type were seen; 

 now he has practically all the colors 

 found in the late varieties. I think 

 great ciedit is due him for what he has 

 accomplished. Putting aside Christmas 

 Pink, Mont Blanc and Sunbeams he 

 has raised practically all the other 

 varieties in cultivation now. He is 

 doing for this type of peas what Henry 

 Eckford did for the late flowering 

 section. 



{To he Continued i 



and other Alpine plants. It grows in 

 sterile soils, among pines and alders, 

 making a patch of about twelve to fif- 

 teen feet. Cultivation is not difficult 

 il rooted plants can be bought, but 

 plants dug up in the wild woods and 

 transplanted into the garden do not 

 always give desired results. 



The Daphne, like other shrubby .4.1- 

 pine plants, grows in a dry, stony loca- 

 tion, but has roots that go very deep 

 into the soil. The roots are pressed 

 into the narrow' spaces between the 

 rocks, and it is therefore very difficult 

 to dig up plants without breaking the 

 roots. 



RHODODENDRONS 



Hardy Hybrids - i}4 ft., 2 ft., 3 ft., 



4 ft., 5 ft. 

 Box — All sizes Bush, Pyramid and 



Standard. 



Roses — Large assortment. Hybrid 



and Climbing. 



Herbaceous Perennials, looo varieties 



fend for General Catalog and Trade List 



The NEW ENGLAND NURSERIES, Inc. 



BEDFORD, nASS. 



Hardy Rhododendrons, Azaleas Con- 

 ifers, Clematis, H. P. Roses, Shrubs 

 and Herbaceous Plants from our 



HOLLAND NURSERIES 



Prices Hoderate 



DAPHNE CNEORUM. 



Walter Dunhardt In MoUer's Dentshe 

 G.iitner Zeltung 



This plant grows wild in the 

 Schwablsche Mountains, together with 

 Gentiana venia and Orchis militaris. 



P. OUWERKERK, ^*VrH°.'.'r^got^° g.'jf." 



Berberis Thunbersii 



iS to 2.1-in, , 12 to id-in.. all well brancht-'d and 

 good roots. 10,000 Vlnco Hinor ((irave Myr- 

 tle). SOOO Red Oak, 3 to 5 ft. Norway Spruce, 



12 to i8-in. 



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