February 7, 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



1k9 



THE SWEET PEA. 



(A paper read before the Horticultural 

 Society of New Vorli by Ed. Jenlilns.) 



I was led to choose the sweet pea 

 as a subject for my discourse this 

 atternooii for several good and sub- 

 stantial reasons: First, because this 

 beautiful annual is perhaps more truly 

 "everybody's flower" than even the 

 rose or any other plant in cultivation. 

 Secondly, because the sweet pea above 

 any other plant responds to good culti- 

 vation and liberal treatment by yield- 

 ing to us a magnificent display of flow- 

 ers over a long period and forms a 

 grand exception to the old adage which 

 says "you can't have your cake and 

 eat it too," for the more sweet peas 

 you pick the more you have, and, in 

 fact, if you don't pick them you won't 

 have them for very long. The rose 

 and the carnation are sometimes so 

 improved by the hybridist as to lose 

 one of their greatest charms, their 

 perfume, but not so with our favorite. 

 Its Origin. 



While realizing that you expect 

 from me practical cultural remarks, I 

 feel sure that you will pardon a brief 

 excursion into the history of the in- 

 troduction to cultivation and the sub- 

 sequent development of the sweet pea 

 to its present measure of perfection. 



As it is almost certain that the 

 sweet pea reached America through 

 Great Britain, we must go back there 

 for a glimpse of its earlier develop- 

 ment. About the last year of the sev- 

 enteenth century an Italian priest 

 named Cupani found the sweet pea 

 growing wild in the island of Sicily 

 and sent some plants of it to a Doctor 

 Uvedale. at Enfield, in England. We 

 do not know much about it from this 

 date for the next hundred years or 

 more, but suppose it to have been cul- 

 tivated to some extent. In 1820, some 

 six colors or shades were listed and in 

 1860 there were nine. Then, about 

 1877, commenced the great Eckford 

 epoch when varieties and shades of 

 colors were multiplied with great fre- 

 quency, together with an increase in 

 size and substance. This period of 

 development continued without inter- 

 ruption till about the dawn of the 

 twentieth century, when the sweet pea 

 world was delightfully astonished by 

 the advent of the waved standard, bet- 

 ter known as the Spencer type. As 

 this type reigns supreme today, at 

 least among the summer-flowering 

 kinds, we may well spare a minute to 

 note this wonderful occurrence and to 

 observe that when the sweet pea had 

 reached such a stage of development 

 that she was ready to make a break. 

 or as gardeners call it, "to sport." and 

 she did so in three different places the 

 same season, viz.: in Earl Spencer's 

 garden, in Northamptonshire, (wnence 

 the name of Soencer), and with Mr. 

 TTnwin, at Cambridge; also with Mr. 

 Eckford, at Wem. in Shropshire. This 

 tendency to break in several difl'erent 

 sections the same year has been noted 

 in some other plants, and one might 

 argue that it was a sign that nature 

 was jealous and opposed to monopoly. 

 The old grandiflora variety. Prima 

 Donna, appears to have been the chief 

 factor as a parent of the Spencers, 

 and its general .tendency to throw four 

 flowers to each stem seems to have 

 been transmitted- as a characteristic of 

 the Spencers. The last few years 

 have brought still another change in 



brings joy to nil who grow, sell, or eat it. It 

 is immensely profitable to the market grower, 

 and "a ,ioy forever" to the amateur gardener. 

 Tile canes' are of ironclad hardihood and need 

 no staking. The.v yichl heavily, all 



The "JOY" 



I^I-kA'/ ■ Ilk'I^F^rV lf?<(^ t'be canoes" being literally loaded with 

 -■— '-■"^ "XV_yJl ILi^i^ik.Vi-VJ.'s ,,pj.py (Q^ several years, and am wil- 

 ling to stake my reputation upon it. 

 In the winter of 1(111-12 every Klack- 

 liorry in my trial grounds was 

 iliinuiged more or less e.vcept the Jo.v 

 which came through with every hud 

 and terminal in perfect condition. 



Grow This Berry. It is Hardy and Wonderfully Productive 



.TOY Blackberries are coal black, and large, almost as thick through as they are 

 long. In luscious flavor they surpass by far all other Blackberries I have ever 

 grown. In my long experience with this berry its canes have never been 

 affected, even slightly, by orange rust or other fungus disease, and I believe it 

 is immune to them. 



A full assortment of Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Grapes, Currants, 

 Gooseberries, Garden Roots, Hardy Perennial Plants, Shrubs and Vines. Ever- 

 green and Shade Trees, Roses, Hedge Plants, etc. Illustrated descriptive catalog 

 replete with cultural instructions, free to everybody. Established 1S78. 200 

 acres. Quality unsurpassed. Prices low. 



OV^ErrX^ J- T. LOVETT, Box 153 Little Silver, N. J. 



duplex standards and occasionally du- 

 plex petals. What the future may 

 have in store we know not, but that 

 greater glories await us in the future, 

 the past gives us every reason to hope. 



Preparing the Soil. 



The next phase we have to consider 

 is how to treat the sweet pea so as to 

 get a maximum of quality and quan- 

 tity. The ordinary everyday method 

 is to sow the seed in rows very thick- 

 ly, as soon as the ground is ready to 

 work in spring; then with the excep- 

 tion of giving supports of some kind, 

 the grower leaves the plants to take 

 care of themselves until the flowers 

 appear, and on some naturally rich 

 soil, if perchance the rainfall is more 

 than ordinarily abundant, very good 

 results may now and then follow. How- 

 ever, the true lover and sweet pea en- 

 thusiast will not be satisfied by any 

 such uncertain methods, but will cast 

 about to find means whereby success 

 is more nearly assured. 



Apart from good seed, the funda- 

 mental basis, the all-im'portant founda- 

 tion of success, lies in the proper 

 preparation of the soil, and if this 

 operation is shirked or in any way 

 skimmed over, your efforts will in a 

 large measure be set at naught, and 

 disappointment will almost surely be 

 your lot. unless you are fortunate 

 enough to possess one of those rare 

 conditions of an ideal soil, rich, deep 

 and porous. Possessing this, you 

 might well ignore this part dealing 

 with the preparation of the soil, but 

 as in about ninety-five per cent, of the 

 cases we are only blest with about 

 six to eight inches of tolerably good 

 soil we must labor heartily to improve 

 this so that we may have from twenty- 

 four to thirty inches of well-manured 

 compost. The time to do this to the 

 best advantage is during the months 

 of September and October, as at this 

 time the ground is usually in good 

 condition for maneuvering. Generally 

 work is not so pressing as in spring, 

 and further it gives time for settling 

 of the soil before planting. 



Let me now describe the method 

 which I have found very satisfactory, 

 though making no claims to superi- 

 ority over other methods. Assuming 

 a hypothetical case of six rows, each 

 fifty feet long, we would lay out a 



rectangular plot thirty-six feet by fifty 

 and on the shorter or thirty-six foot 

 side, three feet from the corner, set 

 a stake, then every six feet a stake, 

 until the six rows are indicated. 

 Stakes should be placed opposite each 

 other at both ends and should denote 

 the center of each row. Now com- 

 mencing on the fifty foot side, we re- 

 move the top nine inches to soil from 

 three feet on both sides of the center 

 of row one and place it outside of our 

 plot entirely, to be later carted or 

 wheeled to finish the last row The 

 top soil being removed, we dig a 

 trench (always using the end stakes 

 as a center) eighteen inches deep and 

 two feet wide, placing the subsoil re- 

 moved on either side of the trench 

 where the good topsoil has just been 

 dug off. Then commencing on row 

 two, we remove the topsoil off the six 

 feet wide and to the same depth as 

 before and use it tor filling trench 

 one, but not without mixing about 

 a ton of half decayed farm-yard ma- 

 nure and fifty pounds each of bonemeal 

 and woodashes, also about two pounds 

 of well pulverized sulphate of iron, 

 being sure at all times to thoroughly 

 incorporate the whole mixture. Pro- 

 ceed thus to the last row when soil 

 from row one will be used for filling. 

 As each row is finished endeavor to 

 leave the soil ridged up so as to give 

 the frost a chance to do all the disin- 

 tegrating possible. That all this sounds 

 like a heavy task I know full well, 

 but if you would have good, long stem- 

 med peas, from the middle of June till 

 at least the middle of September, this, 

 or some modification of this method, 

 must be followed. 



Sowing the Seed. 



Having prepared the soil we next 

 come by logical sequence to the sow- 

 ing of the seed and by all means spare 

 no efi'ort to secure good seed from a 

 reliable seedsman. If you would not 

 be disappointed in securing some 

 choice variety which , you have set 

 your heart upon, get them as early as 

 possible and keep in a cool place un- 

 til sowing time arrives. 



Before we sow, or perhaps before we 

 buy, it will be in order to determine 

 how many seeds we require. On the 

 basis of six rows fifty feet long, i 



