: :- 



GARDEXIXG. 



Ma, 



15 



?ZAS 



blooms I ever saw. This known Taria- 

 tion in these varieties illustrates the effect 

 that cultural conditions often have 

 the sweet pea and make it probable that 

 some of the other Tarieties of which I am 

 to write developed abnormally and 

 behaved d i ffere n tly at Detroit than at 

 ----- 



The Bride. This new -white is certainly 

 well worthy of a place. The vine, while 

 not quite so hardy and floriferous as that 

 of Emily Henderson is more so than that 

 of Blanche Burpee, and the individual 

 flowers are fully as fine in size, form and 

 . - . r - = .1 -'-- - -. : -. .--.-.--.-:---■- — 

 those of the latter sort. The especial 

 merit of the variety, however, is in its 

 length, strength and grace of flower stem 

 and the disposition of the blooms thereon, 

 being one of our best sorts in these respects, 

 and forming an exceedingly graceful 

 bunch. To me this quality of gracefhrnrBB 

 of stem and poise of Sower is an impor- 

 tant element of merit and should be con- 

 sidered in the same way as size, form and 

 color in estimating the relative merit of 

 varieties. Sweet peas are seldom enjoyed 

 as a single stem, but either as growing on 

 the vine or gathered into a bunch to add 

 to the attractiveness of dress or surround- 

 ings, so that availability for this purpose 

 is surel- worthy of consideration. 



Prima Donna. This is quite similar tc 

 Katherine Tracy and I will compare it 

 with that variety. At Detroit it was a very 

 vigorous grower, producing a great num- 

 ber of flower stems, each with th- 

 four blossoms, four to the stem being as 

 common in this variety as three in the 

 other. The stems are heavier and the 

 flowe- .'aced and less grace- 



fully poised and roll much more, so that 

 though there are more of them they 

 formed a less graceful and effective bunch 

 and the row at no time looked as brilliant 

 as th.- -nerican rival. In color as 



-. at Detroit they at alike, 



_- a uniform shade of soft and 



delicate but brilliant rose pink or blush 

 crimson, rather better diffused and more 

 -ent in Katherine Tracy. 



The standard of the English sort was a 

 Kttle — and but a little — the largest and 

 B form, being a little fuller at the 

 base. At r - - - • well expanded and 

 nearly flat with -lent incurve to 



give grace but it soon rolls forward in a 

 way which though graceful, lessens the 

 effectiveness of the flower, while that of 

 the American sort remains boldly 

 expanded till it fades. The wings were 

 larger and better formed but to my taste 

 less gracefully rolled. I saw the two 

 varieties growing in the same gardens in 

 New York and Vermont where they 

 developed relatively about as at Dei 

 but in Canada Katherine Tracy did much 

 better, being very large and persistent 

 and fine in color, while Prima Donna did 

 not do so well as at Detroit. On the other 

 band in California Prima Donna did 

 decidedly the best, being far better in size, 

 form and color and the standard rolling 

 much less than at Detroit, while as grown 

 there Katherine Tracy w as no better in 

 size and was poorer in color than in 

 Michigan, and very much inferior to the 

 Canadian blo'.- 



Royal Rose. This seems to me the 

 largest and finest formed sweet pea yet 

 introduced. The plant is strong gro 

 and produces a good number of stout 

 flower stems bearing two or three close 

 set and a little stiffly poised flowers. The 

 standard is of immense size and of great 

 substance-, it is nearly round with its 

 longest diameter a little below the center. 

 It is boldly expanded and remains nearly 

 flat till the last. The wings are very large 

 and thick, beautifully incurved rather 

 than rolled and retain tbeir form better 

 than most. If taken off and laid flat the 

 pair will exactly cover the standard. In 

 the flower is a cold purple pink, 

 something like, though a shade darker, 

 than Apple Blossom, and it is nearly the 

 same shade throughout except in the 



back of the standard, where it is darker. 

 This is a magnificent flower, but it is one 

 to admire rather than love and in spite 01 

 its size and beauty it is not likely to 

 become as popular as some of its softer 

 colored and more winning sisters. 



Will W. Tracv. 



SWEET PEAS STILL IB THE ASCENDANT. 



Twenty-five novelties in sweet peas for 

 So the list stands, with several 

 counties to hear from. Personally I am 

 not responsible for any additions to the 

 list; not but what there are varieties of 

 merit among them, but because it is un- 

 fortunate to swell the list at such a whole- 

 sale rate. 



Eckford puts out seven, W. Atlee 



Burpee & Co. nine, Peter Henderson 6c Co. 



S. T. Walker, of Forest Grove, Ore.. 



issues his first catalogue as a sweet pea 



specialist, and names seven that he thinks 



worthy of a place. Mr. Sam Hamilton 



j^are the names to the two best on Mr. 



Walker's list. I suppose the Sunset Seed 



Co. will offer a very fine dark, satiny, 



indigo blue novelty, which they sent out 



-:al last year. Yaughan offers the 



three varieties of which Mr. Lynch let a 



little trial stock go last year, and which 



having been on my catalogue were coun ted 



in as Wj~ novelties. And I understand 



that Vick puts out another double variety. 



I have decided not to issue a list for 



although, as an easy way to 



answer inquiries, I have had the novelty 



list printed. My wish is to fall back into 



the ranks of impartial critics. I can not 



■■-. one sweet pea enthusiast said to 



me to-day, that he was disappointed in 



the entire novelty list for this year. It 



does not present as much originality of 



- as I hoped. But we must remember 



that we are now at a stage where we have 



had some colore only in name and are 



Bg nearer and nearer to the genuine 



thing. Mr. Eckford claims on thestrength 



of a first-class certificate to have now a 



