July 15, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



67 



THE BURPEE EXHIBIT AT THE SWEET PEA SHOW. 



The illustration herewith presented 

 gives some idea of the superb sweet 

 pea exhibit made by W. Atlee Burpee 



& Co., at the recent show in Philadel- 

 phia. The picture shows only about 

 one-fifth of the length of the display. 

 It is not possible to do justice to such 



an arrangement in one photograph. 

 The colors were beautifully contrasted 

 and harmonized but this, of course, 

 must also be left to the imagination. 



A FEW OBSERVATIONS ANENT 

 SWEET PEAS. 



By Edwin Lonsdale, Lompoc, Cal. 

 To the Officers and Members of the 

 National Sweet Pea Society of 

 America: 



We are all aware that the Sweet 

 Pea by its own intrinsic worth has 

 forged to the front and now heads the 

 list among annual flowers; aided to 

 some extent, of course, by its numer- 

 ous ardent admirers. 



The Sweet Pea is rarely out of 

 place, and is almost equally at home, 

 blooming in the city yard, as it is in 

 the more pretentious gardens of the 

 suburbanite or on the broader acre- 

 age, further afield, among the more 

 wealthy. The late and highly re- 

 spected Henry Eckford is everywhere 

 accorded the honored title of "The 

 Father of the Sweet Pea," having by 

 painstaking and well-directed effort, 

 in cross-fertilizing and selecting, im- 

 proved it in many of the great essen- 

 itals, which include size, color, and 

 form, but it was the advent of that 

 beautiful variety, Countess Spencer, 

 which marked the greatest advance in 

 the modern sweet pea; and, its ten- 

 dency to "sport," or vary, which this 

 modern type has a predisposition to 

 do, is not the least among its inter- 

 esting qualities. Someone has said 

 that this sportive tendency "is a bless- 

 ing in disguise," and I believe it. 

 Most assuredly it has added zest to 

 the growing of sweet peas generally 

 in recent years, for many enthusiasts 

 in these days are continually on the 

 lookout for new color shades, new 

 color combinations and an additional 

 eighth of an inch to the standard! 



The tendency that the modern sweet 

 pea has to throw sports has caused 

 many enthusiasts to observe more 

 closely for color and other variations, 

 and thus added materially to their 

 pleasures in sweet pea growing. We 

 hear sometimes the "carping critic" 

 bewailing the fact that there are too 

 many varieties, and some have gone 



so far as to take the trouble of pre- 

 paring lists of too-much-alike varie- 

 ties, but we must always bear in 

 mind that each color selection fre- 

 quently has characteristics all its own 

 which is often influenced by different 

 soil or climatic conditions, so that it 

 behooves us to try all varieties and 

 hold on to those which answer our 

 own individual purposes best. 



Florists everywhere find sweet peas, 

 both in the winter season and also 

 when grown outdoors in summer time, 

 always useful to cut from, and never 

 out of place, and the newer "Spen- 

 cers" with their larger and more wavy 

 standards lend themselves most grace- 

 fully to all floral art; and, besides, 

 this type also has another advantage 

 for garden and floral decorations on 

 account of its failing to set seed so 

 freely as does the older grandiflora 

 types, thus prolonging its season for 

 producing flowers. 



Among crimsons nothing in general 

 cultivation is superior to King Ed- 

 ward Spencer, as it lights up so well 

 under the influence of artificial light 

 at night. For a delicate pink, the 

 best selection of the original Countess 

 Spencer is still one of the very best. 

 For maroon, Othello answers the pur : 

 pose well. White Spencer is one of 

 the best in that color, and for a 

 cream, Primrose Spencer at its best 

 is at the head of the list. So far as 

 I have seen in the light lavender color 

 shade there is nothing better than the 

 newer Florence Nightingale. 



The foregoing list is of course rec- 

 ommended for outdoor growing in 

 summer time. For winter blooming 

 an entirely distinct type is made use 

 of, among which may be mentioned: 

 Earliest White, or Florence Denzer, 

 and Mont Blanc. For cream, Earliest 

 Sunbeams is good. Christmas Pink 

 or re-selected Earliest of All Blanche 

 Ferry are quite popular among the 

 pinks, and for rosy lavender Mrs. 

 Alex. Wallace, and for violet purple, 

 Le Marquis is grown. The winter 

 blooming class is not of the Spencer 



type, but these I am reliably informed 

 are on the way to arrive quite soon. 



The crops of sweet peas seeds at 

 this writing are quite uncertain, espe- 

 cially at Floradale, where on account 

 of weather conditions planting was 

 from four to six weeks later than in 

 1910. 



CARE OF WASHINGTON TREES. 



While the elm tree beetle and the 

 caterpillar have been exceedingly 

 numerous in the district this sum- 

 mer the district superintendent of 

 trees and parkings has waged a vig- 

 orous campaign against them, and 

 one of the most successful ones in 

 years. The trees certainly are in bet- 

 ter condition than they were a year 

 ago. Some 7000 elm trees have been 

 sprayed twice with arsenate of lead, 

 applied by means of a 400-gallon 

 sprayer, which has been added to the 

 apparatus at the disposal of the park 

 superintendent. Moreover, all the lin- 

 den trees have been sprayed twice, and 

 it is expected that there will be addi- 

 tional sprayings. Last year many 

 trees were also denuded of foliage, 

 which was entirely skeletonized so 

 that the trees afforded no shade. No 

 trees are in that condition this sum- 

 mer. The cost of the spraying has 

 been but a trifle more than 8 cents a 

 tree. Many caterpillars have been 

 prevented from climbing up the tree 

 trunks by bands of pitch applied to 

 the trees, and men with gasoline 

 torches have destroyed many of the 

 pests. F. J. DYER. 



Utica, N. Y. — Wm. Matthews, the 

 orchid specialist of Central New York, 

 has refused a big offer for a rare white 

 Cattleya gigas. He recently sent a 

 splendid specimen to the Royal Gar- 

 dens at Windsor. Although arrived 

 at the age when most successful sons 

 of Flora retire on their laurels, this 

 veteran orchidist may be found con- 

 stantly among his pets, which provide 

 him with profitable recreation. 



