August 11, lonc 



HORTICULTURE 



129 



SWEET PEA REVIEW FOR 1906. 



Nineteen six, for some reason or 

 other, has been a poor season for 

 sweet peas. The most generally ac- 

 cepted theory for this untoward state 

 of affairs is the dry weather in May, 

 followed by unusually copious rains 

 and hailstorms in June and July. Dur- 

 ing the two latter months they would 

 be drowned one day and scorched the 

 next until one finally gave up hope 

 of seeing them at their best for this 

 year. The review by the writer, which 

 appeared in your issue of July 29, 1905, 

 was made under exceptionally favor- 

 able circumstances, the season having 

 been ideal, and the field notes taken at 

 a time when the majority of varieties 

 were at their best. This year we have 

 had to depend on the notes taken from 

 day to day by the people in charge of 

 the trial grounds of the Burpee Farm 

 at Fordhook. these being superin- 

 tended mainly by Mr. Darlington and 

 revised and annotated by the manager. 

 Mr. Howard M. Earl. The notes which 

 follow may therefore be considered as 

 a modification of the writer's last 

 year's conclusions in the light of the 

 present season's experience, and as a 

 comiiosite of the opinions of various 

 authorities. 



Among the whites it is generally 

 agreed that Dorothy Eckford has the 

 best substance of all, the only rival 

 being Blanche Burpee, which is the 

 better formed flower of the two. Ben- 

 ary's Mont Blanc must now take a 

 back seat being superseded by Burpee's 

 Earliest of All White, which is not only 

 earlier, but is better both in form and 

 substance. White Wonder is a great 

 thing for bunching, but the individual 

 flowers are small. This is made up for 

 in number, however, there being 

 usually from eight to thirteen on the 

 twin spray which is a peculiarity of 

 this variety as is also its tall growth 

 (often 10 to 15 feet). 



Among the yellows Mrs. Eckford is 

 still up front, but if what our English 

 friends say about Dora Cowper be all 

 true (and if she makes good on this 

 side) .good-bye Mrs. Eckford. The 

 Dora Cowper was awarded a certifi- 

 cate of merit by the National Sweet 

 Pea Society recently and is described 

 as a clear yellow and far superior in 

 every way. both to Mrs. Eckford and 

 Mrs. E. Kenyon. Queen Victoria and 

 Mrs. Fitz.gerald are among recent im- 

 provements in the yellow class and we 

 must hold on to them until we see 

 how the newcomers turn out. 



Among the blush pinks Modesty is 

 still a .good one and must be .given a 

 prominent place in this class. Countess 

 Spencer, the great 1904 novelty, a love- 

 ly pink with fluted edges, still holds 

 her own amon.g the prize winners and 

 all that has been said of her stands. 



In the dark class Mr. Earl still places 

 Black Michael as the greatest novelty 

 of them all. It is a dark claret mag- 

 nificent as to size, form and substance, 

 but even more remarkable for its 

 dwarf habit of growth and dark green 

 foliage. David R. Williamson is a fine 

 improvement on the old "Blue and 

 Purple.'" 



Jeannie Gordon, a bright rose with 

 creamy wings, holds good in her class 

 as yet. though she is far more pop- 

 ular in England than here. Agnes 

 Johnston, another bright rose but dis- 

 tinguished by the wings and standards 

 being slightly flushed with pink. Mrs, 



Knights Smith, when it comes true, is 

 a fine flower of a distinct pink but ex- 

 perience in selecting this variety has 

 proven that it is very difficult to get it 

 true. Prima Donna still holds its 

 ground among the pinks but is grad- 

 ually being superseded by Janet Scott 

 which latter is one of the handsomest 

 for use in bouquets. It has large flow- 

 ers of the purest pink and always three 

 to a spray. Gladys Unwin, a lovely 

 pink, a shade lighter than Countess 

 Spencer, which it resembles in form. 

 Mr. Earl thinks Countess Spencer is 

 the one to watch carefully for new de- 

 velopments. It is a new type and will 

 undoubtedly give us many more with 

 the distinct wavy or rumpled effect in 

 the standard and wings. Florence 

 Spencer is one of this progeny, but it 

 will take another season to decide its 

 merits alon.gside Gladys Unwin. 



Scarlet Gem is as near a dazzling 

 scarlet as it is possible to imagine a 

 sweet pea. The flowers are under the 

 standard as to size, but the brilliant 

 color makes up for all defects. Queen 

 ."Mexandra described by Eckford as a 

 dazzling scarlet, shows a trifle darker 

 than Scarlet Gem at Fordhook. It is 

 a magnificent variety and sure to be 

 popular as soon as sufficient seed can 

 be saved to warrant offering same at a 

 moderate price. 



Kin.g Edward VII. is just as good as 

 when described a year ago. and has 

 made good in every way. It is a glow- 

 ing red self and the best to date in 

 its color. Coccinea has a place of its 

 own where a distinct rich cherry red 

 is required, but the flowers are small 

 and only two to a spray. Salopian 

 was the parent of King Edward, but it 

 burned badly in our hot sun. Then 

 came Sunproof Salopian, but it also 

 burns though not so badly. 



The grand new color (orange sal- 

 mon) of which Henry Eckford is the 

 type has not stood our hot summer 

 very well, but the exceptional season 

 must be taken into account. In order 

 to get the best results in color effect 

 it should be planted in a partially 

 shaded situation. The National Sweet 

 Pea Society has commenced a new 

 color section with this variety as the 

 type. 



In the salmon-oran.ge class those de- 

 serving of special mention are: 

 Gorgeous, Hon. F. Bouverie, Lady 

 .Mary Currie and Mrs. Willmott. But 

 the best of the section is undoubtedly 

 Helen Lewis, a seedling of Countess 

 Spencer of immense size and a general 

 color effect of salmon pink, although 

 a nioser examination shows a crimson 

 orange standard with orange rose 

 v/ings. This was originally introduced 

 by Burpee as Mrs. Sydenham, but as it 

 was christened on the other side as 

 Helen Lewis the other name has been 

 dropped. 



Lord Kenyon, of a deep pink. is ahead 

 of Lord Roseberry, which is a shade 

 lighter and has smaller flowers. Her 

 Majesty is still good, but Majestic is 

 better, both in form and color. The 

 best of all the rose pinks is John In- 

 gram, a Spencer seedling, introduced 

 by Burpee. This supersedes easily the 

 nopular Prince of Wales, which in its 

 time topped the rose pink cohimn. 



Of the three latest Eckfords, Sybil 



Eckford is the least attractive. In our 



climate the color is a delicate blush 



,'.,^plnk and the flower is not nearly so 



good as we had reason to expect. 



Among the oddly roarked varieties 



Helen Pierce, a Morse novelty of last 

 year, shows up well. It is a good 

 .sized flower with a white ground flaked 

 with blue and light purple. 



G, C, WATSON. 



SWEET PEAS IN WINTER. 



Can you toll what time I should 

 plant sweet peas to have them in 

 bloom at Christmas time? Also can 

 they be gmwn and give as many 

 flowers in a cool house that is kept 

 from 36 to 40 at night and 55 to GO in 

 daytime except upon especially sunny 

 days? ^___^__ 



For Christmas flowering sow 

 September 1, if grown at a temperature 

 of 50 degrees nights and 60 degrees to 

 65 degrees in daytime. They can be 

 grown at from 3i; degrees to 40 degrees 

 at night but, in that case, will not 

 bloom until spring. WILLIAM SIM. 



THE HICKORY TUSSOCK MOTH, 

 Editor HORTICULTURE: 



Dear Sir: — Will you please name the 

 enclosed specimens and tell me all 

 about them. Yours truly, 



J. E, E. 



The specimens sent in are Halisi- 

 dota caryae, larvae of Lepidoptera, 

 family Arctiidae, or in common words 

 they are the caterpillars of the hickory 

 tussock moth or tiger moth. 



The life history — or cycle of ex- 

 istence — is as follows: The moths ap- 

 pear from winter quarters about June 

 and lay their eggs, which hatch in a 

 few weeks into the pretty tufted 

 caterpillars often found feeding on the 

 elm, ash, hickory and butternut in 

 August and early September. 



The caterpillars are covered with 

 clusters of short white hairs and have 

 a row of eight tufts of longer black 

 hairs down the back. Each section of 

 the body is marked with a dozen black 

 spots and a few fine black lines. Two 

 pencils of very long black hairs aris- 

 ing from the first segment and extend- 

 ing forward, and two more reaching 

 backward from the seventh segment 

 give them a close resemblance to the 

 tussock moth, Notolophus leucostigma, 

 to which, in fact, they are closely re- 

 lated. 



In September the caterpillars attain 

 their growth, and are about an inch 

 and a half long. They crawl down 

 from the trees then and form their 

 cocoons under stones, or in chinks dt 

 walls. Here they stay until the fol- 

 lowing spring, undergoing the change 

 from caterpillar to butterfly. The co- 

 coons are grayish in color, thick, 

 short, blunt, and made mostly from 

 the hair of the caterpillar. 



The following June they emerge as 

 dark ochre-yellow moths with a wing 

 expanse of 1 7-8 to 2 1-4 inches. The 

 fore wings are long, narrow and 

 marked with numerous brown and 

 white dots and two brownish stripes 

 running parallel to the outer hind 

 margin. The hind wings are thin and 

 semi-transparent. 



These moths lay the eggs for the 

 next brood, thus completing the life 

 history. 



The caterpillars are seldom trouble- 

 some and rarely ever attack valuable 

 shade trees or crops. If they ever do 

 occur in sufficient numbers to dr. 

 damage, they can be easily controlled 

 by spraying the foliage with some 

 arsenical in§ec4icide. 



^. U ADAMS. 



