HORTI CULTURE 



July 29, 1905 



A Day Among the Sweet Peas 



in 1S85, just twc 



induced the farm of 



Joseph Breck & Sons to catalogue the Eck- 



ford 



peas. 



Theirs was the first 



Ainerican catalogue to Ust this improved 

 strain of an old garden favorite; four years 

 afterwards, the Philadelphia firm of John 

 Gardiner & Co., with which the writer was 

 then associated, color plated them ; but it 

 was only when, in the early nineties, the 

 house of Burpee took hold of them that the 

 Eckford creations got their real boom in 

 America. During the past ten years, the 

 popularity of the sweet pea has been con- 

 stantly increasing and improvements in the 

 various types has made corresponding 

 progress. 



To thoroughly realize what this improve- 

 ment means, one must visit the Burpee trial 

 grounds at Fordhook in early July, when the 

 bloom is at its best. Accordingly the writer 

 spent a day recently in the interests of the 

 readers of Horticulture in noting the field 

 trials of hundreds of varieties of sweet peas. 

 In company with genial Edward Campbell, 

 I was shown over the trials by Mr. Darling- 

 ton, Mr. Burpee's farm superintendent, who 

 is a walking encyclopedia on this special 

 subject, and later we were joined by general 

 manager Earl, who had but that very day 

 returned from his European trip and was 

 primed with the latest sweet pea informa- 

 tion. Following are my field notes on a 

 few of the newer varieties as well as some of 

 the older sorts that still hold their own for 

 various reasons' 



Dorothy Eckford; this is Mr. Eckford's 

 latest. It is pure white, very large size; 

 mostly two, occasionally three, on a spray, 

 a flower here and there showing a tendency 

 to double; better substance than Blanche 

 Burpee and equal to it in other features. 



Josephine White (Ferry) ; another white 



irently an early selection of Emily Hen- 

 Good for in- 



app. 



derson. Dwarf, long 



door culture. 



Mont Blanc (Benary) ; same type as fore- 



going, 



but earUer and dwarfer; claimed by 



many to be the best white for forcing. 

 Personally I think Zvolanek's Christmas 

 better — the latter producing a larger per- 

 centage of four on a spray. 



Blanche Burpee; the parent of Dorothy 

 Eckford and the finest white up to the ad- 

 vent of that magnificent flower. Sadie Bur- 

 pee; same color ; taller standard. Not as 

 good substance as Dorothy, and shows a 

 tinge of pink occasionally. 



White Wonder; very large and of good 

 substance; twin or branching sprays, bearing 

 six to eight flowers on a spray. A good 

 many of the flowers come double. Mr. 

 Campbell said he had seen this variety 

 growing in Canada ten feet high and with 

 thirteen flowers to a stem. 



Coquette; pale blush standard with creamy 

 wings. Lady M. OrmsbyGore; creamy 

 white with primrose tint; large, free and 

 vigorous. 



Mrs. Eckford; Mr. Darlington says "pale 

 primrose yellow." I must be color blind, 

 for I couldn't see anything in it but a creamy 

 white. "Well," said he, "it's as near yellow 

 as we've got." 



Queen Victoria; supposed to be an im- 

 provement on Mrs. Eckford; shghtly more 

 pronounced in color; larger standards and 

 better substance. 



Sue Earl; cream, %vith mauve edging. 

 Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon; came after Queen 

 Victoria; I couldn't see any more yellow in 

 it; but it has a larger flower. 



Mrs. Fitzgerald (Eckford); apricot. Mr. 

 Burpee's Stella Morse raised in California 

 and sent out same year, is identical with this 

 variety. I think this one of the most at- 

 tractive of the so-called yellow shades. 



Primrose ; the original 

 yeUow which has "grown 

 up" into Mrs. Fitzgerald. 

 Lemon Queen; white with 

 a cream standard ; mis- 

 named. Duchess of York; 

 pale pink, one of the old 

 Eckfords, but still a good 

 one. 



Modesty; white, flushed 

 with pink; introduced by 

 Mr. Burpee. Mr. DarUng- 

 ton says it is unusually 

 pink this year. Sensation; 

 white, flushed with pink; a 

 little deeper than Modesty. 

 Alice Eckford is the mother 

 of these two. 



Countess Spencer; one of 

 last year's novelties from 

 England. It is a lovely 

 pink with fluted edges; 

 darker than Gladys Unwin, 

 but not so fluted in the 

 standard. Both are good, 

 but it is a mistake to sup- 

 pose that either of these are 

 in the forcing class as has 

 been claimed, as neither 

 will flower before the mid- 

 dle of Februar)-, indoors. 



Countess of Latham; pale 

 pink. Mr. Dariington says 

 "coppery rose." I couldn't 

 see it his way. 



Crown Jewel; rose stan- 

 dard, wings Ughter colored, 

 but has a self effect. Apple 

 Blossom ; deeper than 

 Crown Jewel; very soft, 

 rich shade. 



Black Michael; dark 

 claret standard; vrings 

 brownish rose ; a remarkable 

 color and magnificent in 

 size, form, substance, and 

 growth; but more remarkable still for its 

 dwarf habit and dark green foUage. Mr. 

 Earl thinks this is the greatest noveltv of 

 them all. 



David R. Williamson ; something like the 

 old "Blue and Purple," but much larger. 

 Rumola Piazani; an Eckford; similar habit 

 to D. R. WiUiamson; reddish mauve. 



Mrs. H. Kendall Barnes; a new one from 

 England, pale pink standard and wings. 

 Jeanie Gordon; bright rosy standard with 

 creamy wings. A 1904 Eckford. Eliza 

 Eckford; blush. Katherine Tracy; a fine 

 shade of pink and good size, but comes only 

 two on a spray. Lovely; a Grace Wilder 

 pink. Marchioness of Cholmondeley; soft 

 pink; one of the 1905 Eckfords. 



Agnes Johnston; bright rose; novetly 1905. 

 Grace Greenwood; blush edged with deep 

 pink; a lovely and distinct shade. Mrs. 

 Knights Smith; after the style of Countess 

 Spencer, with the same wavy edges, but not 

 so much white tinting in the pink. A 1905 

 Eckford. 



Prima Donna; old but good; a lovely shade 

 of bright pink. Neck and neck with the 

 new Janet Scott. Royal Robe; a richer 

 shade than Prima Donna. 



Triumph; I cannot describe this better 

 than in the words of Mr. Darlington, "A 

 very much glorified Blanche Ferry." 



Janet Scott; a fine pink, standard hooded, 

 and with wings of unu.sual .size. Deeper than 

 Katherine Tracy, and three to a spray. Re- 

 ceived an award of merit at last year's 

 Temple Show. Her Majesty; very fine deep 

 rose, the brightest and softest of its color; 

 very large. 



King Edward VII.; here we have some- 

 thing really magnificent; a glowing red self, 

 which stands unrivalled in its class for color. 



fomi, size, substance, and all that goes to 

 the make-up of the ideal flower. What 

 Dorothy Eckford is in the whites or Her 

 Majesty in the deep pinks, this one is among 

 the reds. 



Lord Kenyon; a deep pink self; fine large 

 flower. Lord Roseberry; cherry; slightly 

 lighter than Lord Kenyon. John Ingham; 

 of a similar shade; even larger and if anything 

 of better form. 



Majestic; same shade as Her Majesty; 

 [lerhaps a little darker. Three to a stem. 

 One of Burpee's best introductions. Mrs, 

 Dugdale; same type as Her Majesty, but 

 later. Prince of Wales; this has been de- 

 scribed as an improved Her Majesty; we do 

 not think it is. 



Coccinea; a fine bright color, but not 

 otherwise notable. George Gordon, Mars 

 and Prince Edward of York, are in the same 

 class. 



Salopian; this is the parent of King Ed- 

 ward VII. Blackens in the sun, but other- 

 wise very httle inferior to its successor. 

 Scarlet Gem; this 1905 novelty has been 

 highly lauded on the other side as a startling 

 new color, but in our opinion does not equal 

 King Edward VII. 



Gorgeous; an American selection from 

 Lady Penzance. Hon. F. Bouverie; de- 

 scribed as a salmon pink, or rather, "apricot." 

 Lady Mary Currie; a rich salmon, shaded 

 carmine; Miss Willmott; larger and more 

 rosy; long stems, 



Burpee's Earliest of All (Gould); a selection 

 from Blanche Ferry; dwarfer and two weeks 

 earlier. This year began to bloom June 6th 

 when only a foot high. E.xcellent for glass 

 culture. Belongs to same class as Ferry's 

 Josephine White, Benary's Mont Blanc, and 

 Zvolanek's Christmas. What we want now 



