Six Months of Spencer Sweet Peas 



By Thomas Ryan, New York. 



l"or spring blooming, Sweet Peas under glass, seed 

 should be sown at the end of September, preferably in 

 the propagating bench. E.xamine the seeds at the end 

 of a week and those still hard should be filed or chipped, 

 for some hard-coated varieties will remain weeks without 

 germinating unless given this treatment. Do not water 

 the bench unless necessary, as many varieties will surely 

 rot (especially the seeds of the white ones) if the sand 

 is kept wet. In ten days to two weeks the seedlings 

 should be ready for potting, for it is not advisable to let 

 them remain too long in the sand. The seedlings are 

 easily handled at most any stage of their growth. Pot 

 off into four-inch pots and place in cold frames. ^\long 

 in November the}' should be covered at night, but give 

 all air possible in the da\- time. Leading shoot should 

 be pinched out to induce breaks from base. I!y the first 

 week in Decemljer these should be sturdy plants; if the 



as nothing but a long stem will result from so doing. 

 ( irown cool by the middle of February they should not 

 l)e more than three feet high, but if forced will easily 

 double this. About this time to the first of March buds 

 will be showing at end of shoots, and they can now be 

 given a few degrees of higher temperature. 



Blasting of buds will likely appear on first crop of 

 flowers, but beyond losing a few flowers will do no harm. 

 All breaks at base of flower stems should be pinched out 

 and all growth from now on should consist of one leaf 

 to every flower all up the stem. W hen the growth has 

 reached to the top wire, commence at bottom and cut 

 away ties, pull the stem down and let it hang down. It 

 will do no harm unless it gets kinked too much. By fol- 

 lowing this method a twelve-foot stem can be grown with 

 \'ery little head ro(im. These shoidd lie throwing fine 

 flowers with grand stems in .\pril and .Ma\'. Countess 



MRS. W. J. UNWIN. 



CH.\RM. 



IJKCIIU). 



weather keeps mild let them stay in cold frames, if till 

 the end of December so much the better. .\t this time 

 the plants should be taken in the house and planted, pref- 

 erably in boxes as they are more easily handled this way 

 and can be taken outside again in the latter part of May 

 where thev will continue to bloom outdoors. It is better 

 to keep in house, if possible, till the outside grown ones 

 commence to flower. Boxes should be eight inches in 

 depth, about ten inches in width, and any length desir- 

 able, wdiich should be filled with good garden soil (no 

 manure). Try to give the plants four feet of head room, 

 plant twelve inches apart, save the three strongest look- 

 ing shoots, and cut all others away. Run one wire along 

 top and one at bottom, string these wires from top to 

 bottom tliree strings to a plant, one for each shoot, and 

 as they grow keep tied to strings with raffia. All ten- 

 drils on leaves and breaks from base of leaves should be 

 kept pinched out and leaving only the leaving growing on 

 stems. A carnation house is good to grow a few boxes 

 in, as this temparature suits them. Do not force them. 



-Spencer, grown under these conditions, has thrown stems 

 two feet and two inches in length. Feeding roots will 

 be seen working on the surface of soil in March, and in 

 April boxes should be top-dressed, not too heavy, but a 

 little at a time with good soil. Along in .-Vpril the plants 

 can lie fed with liquid manure made weak but applied 

 quite frequently once a week, in ]\lay twice a week. .\ 

 few good varieties for indoor growing are : 



King White in u'hitc, Countess Spencer and Elfrcda 

 Pearson in pink, Barbara in orange, Irish Belle in laven- 

 der, Bobbie's Cream in ycllozc, Margaret Madison in 

 blue. Scarlet Emperor in scarlet. May Campbell Senator 

 Spencer a)id Lo-yalty in striped. 



In addition to the foregoing suggestions, a few hints 

 may be given on watering. .V good watering when 

 planted in house should last about a month, as growth 

 in January will be very slow and the soil should not be 

 kept too wet. 



While the growing of these varieties hardly pays un- 

 der glass now that we have the winter-flowering orchid 



