July 8, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



37 



others exceeding the beauty aud type 

 of the Spencers. Mr. Zvolanek de- 

 serves great credit tor his work along 

 these lines, and I hope in the near 

 future this society will be able to ac- 

 cord medals to hybridizers and raisers 

 of new varieties. I understand that 

 The W. Atlee Burpee Co., at Fordhook 

 are also working along these lines, 

 and have some very promising seed- 

 lings. Credit is also due the gentle- 

 men who have helped to finance our 

 society, not only from its inception but 

 also at a time when guarantee funds 

 were needed for prizes, etc. I wish at 

 this time to thank the generous donors 

 of prizes, and your president, Mr. W. 

 Atlee Burpee, for time and moral sup- 

 port so generously given. 



If I were asked to name the best 

 Spencer, Giandifloia and winter-flower- 

 ing sweet peas today, I would give the 

 following list apart from the varieties 

 introduced this year: 



SPENCER VARIETIES. 

 Asta Onn Spencer, pure lavender with 

 tinted pinkish rose, self colored; Aurora 

 Spencer, orange rose or salmon striped on 

 white; Apple Blossom Spencer, standard 

 crimson rose, wings white tinged with pink; 

 Captain of Blues Spencer, bluish purple 

 with distinct margin of lilac; Countess 

 Spencer, the original Spencer, clear pink; 

 Flora Morse Spencer, delicate blush with 

 pink margiu: King Edward Spencer, pure 

 red or crimson scarlet; Lovely Spencer, 

 standard light blush with blotch of rose at 

 the base; Othello Spencer, deep velvety 

 maroon; Mrs. Walter Wright Spencer, rosy 

 purple, self color; Primrose Spencer, pure 

 light primrose yellow; White Spencer, pure 

 white; Mrs. Routzan Spencer, primrose and 

 buff, margin of light salmon; Helen Lewis, 

 standard crimson orange, wings orange 

 rose; John Ingman. rose carmine with rose 

 veins; George Herbert, rose carmine. 



UNWIN VARIETIES. 



Frank Dolby, lavender and mauve; Gladys 

 TJnwin, bright pink a little deeper at the 

 edges, almost self color; E. J. Castle, rose 

 crimson with veins of deeper rose; Mrs. Al- 

 fred Watkins, bright pink at base shading 

 to blush and buff at edges; Nora Unwin, 

 pure white. 



GRANDIFLORA VARIETIES. 



Bolton's Pink, orange or salmon pink, 

 veined with rose, extra early; Blanche 

 Ferry, standard crimson rose, wings white 

 tinged with pink; Burpee's Earliest white, 

 pure white; Dorothy Eckford, pure white; 

 Helen Pierce, marbled blue on ivory white; 

 Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon, clear light primrose; 

 Lovely, deep pink, shading to very light 

 pink at edges; Lady Grisel Hamilton, stand- 

 ard light mauve, wings lavender; Lord Nel- 

 son, standard indigo and violet, wings in- 

 digo; Miss Willmott, orange pink with veins 

 of deeper orange rose; Mrs. Geo. Higginson, 

 Jr., azure-blue, the lightest and clearest 

 blue in sweet peas; Prince Olaf, bright 

 blue, striped on white; Queen Alexandra, 

 very bright red almost a true scarlet; Ed- 

 ward VII. bright red or crimson scarlet. 



WINTER FLOWERING SWEET PEAS. 



Snowbird, pure white; Christmas Pink, 

 standard rose, wings white; Christmas 

 white, pure white; Canary, primrose yellow; 

 Flamingo, crimson scarlet; Christmas Cap- 

 tain, blue and purple; Florence Denzer, 

 pure white; Greenbrook, white slightly 

 touched with lavender; Mrs. Alex. Wallace. 

 lavender; Mrs. Wm. Sim, salmon pink; Mrs. 

 W. W. Smalley, satiny piuk; Wallacea, lav- 

 ender; Watchung, pure white; Mrs. E. 

 WildL rose salmon; Mrs. Chas. II. Totty, 

 sky blue. 



While experts may differ with me 

 on my selection, people will not go 

 far wrong in planting the above 

 varieties. 



Cornell University, where under the 

 care of Prof. Craig and A. C. Beal, the 

 trials of our society had been held, 

 have just issued their bulletin No. 301 

 entitled "Sweet Pea Studies." These 

 have been mailed to all members, 

 through the courtesy of the University, 

 under a frank without cost to the so- 

 ciety. Thanks are due to the energy 



and work of the above gentlemen. If 

 any member has not received a copy, 

 1 would ask them to kindly notify me 

 at once 



Referring to the above selection of 

 sweet peas, 1 think we are somewhat 

 blessed in this country by not having 

 the interminable quantity of new 

 varieties placed on the market as they 

 have in England every year. Unless 

 it has real merit over existing varie- 

 ties, it has not a place in the American 

 seed catalgue or in the garden, neither 

 do we have the same confliction of 

 synonymous varieties under different 

 names. Our growers in California, 

 where SO per cent, of the sweet pea 

 seed of the world is grown, are ex- 

 ceptionally careful not only as to the 

 new varieties they disseminate, but 

 also as to rouging their stocks; neither 

 do they send out new varieties unless 

 to their knowledge they are thorough- 

 ly set. Among the most distinct 

 breaks of recent years are the varie- 

 ties Sterling Stent and Earl Spencer. 

 In reality these are Henry Eckford 

 Spencers, which I believe would he a 

 better name. Many colors we have 

 today cannot be bettered. Those the 

 hybridizers are aiming for are a real 

 buttercup yellow, the scarlet of the 

 geranium and the blue of the Delphin- 

 ium Belladonna. In the meantime, the 

 hybridizers should concentrate their 

 efforts upon improving the size and 

 substance of the flower, number of 

 flowers on a stem, length of the stem 

 and strength and habit of the plant, 

 an American breed of flowering sweet 

 peas that will stand our hot summers, 

 so that not only in name but in fact 

 they will become "the poor man's or- 

 chid" and rivaling that flower. 



NOTES. 



Thomas H. Logan was the genial 

 representative of our city on many 

 occasions during the week, and earned 

 the golden opinions of visitors. 



According to Mr. Kerr, "A Mechan- 

 ical Rogue" is a foreign variety that 

 gets in through the fault of cleaning 

 machinery. This fact was strongly 

 shown in the tests of the variety Helen 

 Lewis. 



Robert Craig made an excellent .ad- 

 dress of welcome, touched with feeling, 

 fervor, wit, learning and all that was 

 fitting for the occasion. He has lost 

 none of his old-time pre-eminence in 

 this line. 



Adam Paterson came down from 

 Connecticut and showed a few of us a 

 thing or two. We had the pleasure 

 also of greeting a good old "nutmeg" 

 in the person of Walter Angus of 

 Chapinville. 



Edwin Lonsdale's paper and greet- 

 ings (all the way from California) 

 were very much appreciated, and 

 showed that our good old horticultural 

 war horse has lost none of his fire or 

 form. He is in a class by himself. 



The irrigation system at Burpee's 

 came in for much favorable comment. 

 It can be laked fore and aft by the 

 mere turn of a crank — as some of the 

 guests realized when David Rust 

 turned the crank on them unexpected- 

 ly. 



The pink snapdragons at Fordhook 

 have the right shade — delicate, yet dis- 

 tinct — desirable for the cut flower 



variety so much sought after, and it 

 is not to be wondered at that they 

 jealously guard each flower stalk, for 

 seeding purposes. 



Among the finest of the fine new 

 varieties of sweet peas seen at the 

 Burpee trial grounds, note these: 

 Marchioness of Tweedale, G. C. Waud, 

 Martha Washington, Rose de Barry. 

 The latter is one of the finest shades, 

 and shows up wonderfully under arti- 

 ficial light. 



The May-flowering varieties like 

 Burpee's Earliest White and Improved 

 Blanche Ferry were passe, and could 

 only be mentioned in a reminiscent 

 vein. They helped, however, to bring 

 up the fact of the coming winter 

 Spencers, and to bring on an animated 

 discussion on these. 



H. A. Bunyard is the everlasting 

 finest secretary! His wit, bonhomie 

 and enthusiasm are inexhaustible and 

 perennial — and lucky is the society 

 that gets his wonderful personality 

 back of it. J. H. Pepper is the record- 

 ing secretary of the N. S. P. S., but Mr. 

 Bunyard has a pleasant variation on 

 that title. He calls him their "Record- 

 ing Angel." 



J. K. M. L. Farquhar was an inter- 

 ested visitor at Riverton and Fordhook 

 this week, and was very well pleased 

 with the fine work the Dreers and Bur- 

 pees are doing in their respective 

 fields. He was particularly impressed 

 with the splendid executive abilities of 

 J. D. Eisele in the new developments 

 at Dreers'; and the sweet pea and 

 cabbage trials at Burpee's. 



M. and Mme. Davy of Arpajon, 

 France, were the guests of Mr. and 

 Mrs. Earl on the 29th and 30th ult., 

 at Fordhook. Some of the effervescent 

 Americans who helped "pick a bone" 

 must have been a sad puzzle to these 

 Gallic visitors. The writer hopes the 

 picture he arranged on the Burpee 

 lawn for them will prove a succcess. 

 Madame deserves the finest ever. 



A. W. Strange ably represented 

 Joseph A. Manda of New Jersey, and 

 put up a very attractive orchid ex- 

 hibit. Unfortunately, one of the 

 best flowers of his collection was 

 stolen just before an interested ex- 

 hibitor arrived in his automobile espe- 

 cially to see- it, and a thousand dollar 

 order went a glimmering! The indi- 

 vidual who did this is known, and 

 sad to relate is said to represent a 

 well-known seed house in this city. 



It is rumored that the next annual 

 meeting and exhibition of the Sweet 

 Pea Society will be held in Boston. 

 William Sim is the new president. The 

 axiom seems to be established — where 

 goes the presidency, there goes the 

 next meeting. It is a good idea in 

 many ways, and as a rule works out 

 first-rate. David Rust thinks a hard 

 and fast date for the next exhibition 

 ought to be set now, and let everybody 

 live up to it. The scheme of shifting 

 the date to suit local conditions at the 

 last minute has not proved good in 

 practice. 



Some one was talking about the 

 difficulty of spelling various words. 

 One man said all spelling was fierce! 

 especially' "ei" and "ie." Among others 

 Mr. Pepper gave an amusing one about 

 Robert Cameron. It appears the lat- 

 ter's notes were written out by an 



