July 20, 1912 



HORTICULTURE 



7T 



A Great Triumph for the Sweet Pea 



Editor of HORTICULTDEE : 



I feel like asking every lover of the sweet pea, "Have 

 you heard from Boston?" Others may express their 

 gratification as they will, but I feel that we are on the 

 threshold of a new decade in this popular flower. Peace 

 hath its victories as well as war. The banner of loveli- 

 ness that we saw at Boston was a glad token to the men 

 who have put their faith in the Spencer type of the 

 sweet pea. From Countess of Spencer to Earl of Spen- 

 cer we have the greatest chapter in the history of the 

 developed form of this flower. They are doing wonder- 

 ful things in England, and now I wish we had flashed 

 a message to the men over them, that the American 

 Sweet Pea Society had proven itself their worthy com- 

 petitor. It was not the mere vision of color that spread 

 out before the visitor at Horticultural Hall, Saturday, 

 that characterized the show; it was the genuine Spencer 

 quality of the flowers shown that made the 1913 ex- 

 hibit a floral event. It is a curious fact that for at 

 least sixteen years the interest in this flower has been 

 at such a low ebb in Boston that the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society has not cared to invite anybody to 

 come and talk about it. Hail to the fact that its day 

 has come again. 



Those who have recently been across the water to see 

 what the successors of Henry Eckford have done bring 

 back such a contagion of enthusiasm that their descrip- 

 tion of length and of stems, and lustiness of haulm are 

 laughable. They say the latter suggests a cabbage leaf, 

 and the former require a yard stick to measure them. 

 But, making all due allowance for exaggeration, they 

 have certainly made a floral sensation of what was once 

 Ihe modest sweet pea. 



If any one here in America asks, "Wliat is this won- 

 derful thing?'"' the answer is this: the sweet pea has 

 made periodic leaps forward as the result of scientific 

 crossing. It took Mr. Eckford ten years or more to 

 bring it to what we have termed the Grandiflora type. In 

 this type the increased size and substance gave it the 

 graceful hooded form. x4nd with all Mr. Eckford's per- 

 sistent work it held this form for a decade or more. 

 And then began the story of a still more remarkable 

 decade. Since Silas Cole discovered in 1901 the first 

 Spencer blossom among his Grandiflora stock, and 

 named it the Countess of Spencer, almost every color 

 has lined itself up to this magnificent type. As if by 



a preconcerted signal every variety drops the grandiflora- 

 form and come forth in this Spencer dress. Nature- 

 keeps her own counsels, — who can tell why both in Great 

 Britain and California such a general break in form 

 should simultaneously occur? Nobody had said, — Go to^ 

 let us create a new type of sweet pea. Nature held 

 concealed the secret, that the time had come to re-en- 

 force this flower with a new measure of vital fluid to win 

 for it a new chapter of enthusiasm and admiration. Its 

 loveliness and grace are preserved, while its scope of 

 size and color is greatly enhanced. We thought the 

 hooded form was lovely, but the waved form is more 

 lovely. And it indulges in other variations, putting 

 increased vitality into duplex form, although these vari- 

 ations are neither popularly or commercially regarded 

 with much favor. 



But the real animus of my present writing is this, — 

 Just where are we now in America as touching the sweet 

 pea? We cannot line up with Great Britain in one re- 

 spect. Probably their finest exhibition flowers come 

 from seed stock naturalized at home, with an island 

 climate that greatly favors them. Their specialists go 

 right on with the work Henry Eckford began. We shall 

 look to them to carry and hold the flower up to its- 

 greatest potential beauty. The Boston show of last Sat- 

 urday sliowed where we actually are in this country. It 

 showed that the American Sweet Pea Society is weU on 

 its feet. The confidence with which we turn our faces 

 to the Boston show of 1913 is greater than ever. The 

 exhibit of 1912 was a phenomenal success. Our sweet 

 pea men "produced the goods." I have heretofore writ- 

 ten in a solicitous strain ; this time I write in the most 

 sanguine vein. Great praise is due the officers of the 

 society, and congratulations should be extended to the- 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society that they have lent 

 their aid to this historic exhibition. And to the man 

 whose faith in the Spencer Sweet Pea has been greatest 

 and whose devotion has been unbounded, — W. Atlee 

 Burpee, — we owe more than to anyone else. No flower 

 ever liad a more inviting opportunity for popularization 

 than the sweet pea of today, and the Boston show proved 

 that it can be popularly grovm. 



Millbury, Mass. 



SWEET PEA WILT AND MILDEW. 



Editor HORTICULTURE: 



Dear Sir — In a paper read by Prof. 

 Taubenhaus, of the Delaware Agricul- 

 tural Experimental Station, on sweet 

 pea diseases before the meeting of 

 the American Sweet Pea Society, in 

 Boston, on Saturday last, he stated 

 that while he had tried many reme- 

 dies to control what is commonly 

 known as wilt and mildew, which 

 affects the sweet peas, he had, how- 

 ever, not yet found anything which 

 would give satisfactory results as a 

 cure. 



The writer approached the speaker 

 after the meeting to inquire of him 

 whether he had ever tried the fungi- 

 cide Fungine. He admitted that he 

 had never heard of it until that Jay, 

 but had been approached by several 

 gardeners who had spoken favorably 

 of this product and told him of their 

 results obtained, and he expressed a 



willingness to try out this material 

 to learn for himself of its merits. I 

 will say Pungine is used today by men 

 who have been prize winners at the 

 two important sweet pea shows here 

 in the east, and who do not hesitate 

 to endorse it highly for the blights 

 which at times overtake the sweet pea 

 plants. 



You undoubtedly will give space to 

 the article read by Prof. Taubenhaus, 

 and I ask that you give some space 

 to this communication to avoid any 

 misapprehension going abroad that 

 there are no remedies today for the 

 sweet pea diseases. I do not believe 

 it was the speaker's intention to create 

 this impression, but what he really 

 meant was that he had not yet come 

 across a remedy. I believe that after 

 this next year's experiments he will 

 readily report otherwise. 

 Yours truly, 



M. C. EBEL,. 



JULY. 



When the scarlet cardinal tells 

 Her dreams to the dragon fly. 

 And the lazy breeze makes a nest in the 

 trees. 

 And murmurs a lullaby. 

 It Is July. 



When the tangled cobweb pulls 



The cornflower's cap awry, 

 And the lilies tall lean over the wall 



To bow to the butterfly, 

 It Is July. 



Wheu the heat like a mist veil floats, 



.\nd poppies flame in the rye, 

 .\nd the silver note in the streamlet's 

 ihroat 

 Has softened almost to a sigh, 

 It Is July. 



When the hours are so still that time 



For?i'ts them and lets them lie 

 'Neath petals pink 'till the night stars 

 wink 

 .4t the sunset in the sky, 

 It Is July. 



— Susan Hartley Swett. 



