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IRISH GARDENING. 



New Books. 



Sweet Peas. 



By H. J. R. DIGGES. 



'Sweet Peas and their Cultivation for Home 

 AND Exhibition." By Charles H. Curtis, F.R.H.S., 

 Hon. Sec. of the National Sweet Pea Society, price one 

 shilling net, 90 pp. This little book has just been issued, 

 and arrives at a most suitable time, when all lovers of 

 sweet peas are preparing- for the sowing season and are 

 making out their seed orders. It is very fully illus- 

 trated, and treats of everything growers want to know, 

 from the preparation of the ground and the sowing 

 of the seed to the gathering of the blooms for home 

 decoration and for the exhibition stage. In addition, 

 there are chapters on the History and Development 

 of Sweet Peas, the Best Varieties, the Raising of 

 New Sweet Peas, the Winter Flowering Varieties, and 

 the Diseases, Animals, and Insects that attack Sweet 

 Peas. It is a bright and attractive treatise. 



The Sweet Pea Annual for 1908. — This "Annual,'" 

 which is the official organ of the National Sweet Pea 

 Society, has just been published in good time to give 



the members of the 

 society all the 

 latest information. 

 It also gives statis- 

 tics of all the sweet 

 peas shown at the 

 society's great ex- 

 hibition in London, 

 enabling one to see 

 at a glance what 

 are the most popu- 

 lar varieties and 

 the most suitable 

 kinds for exhibition. 

 All this is most use- 

 ful just now, when 

 sweet pea lovers 

 are selecting their 

 seeds for the ensu- 

 ing season. The 

 "Annual" is espe- 

 cially interesting 

 this year, owing to 

 the fact that the 

 National Sweet Pea 

 Mr. Edward Cowdy. Society intend hold- 



Of Loughgall, Co. Armagh, Winner 0/ the \ng their Provincial 

 National Sweet Pea Society's Gold Medal Show in Dublin on 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society Sliow, AuQUSt Kth in COn- 

 Duhlin, August, igoy. junction with the 



Summer Show of our Royal Horticultural Society. 

 All sweet pea enthusiasts in this country are on the 

 qui vive, as there are special prizes reserved for 

 Irish growers only, one of these being a beautiful silver 

 cup presented by Messrs. Alexander Dickson and Sons, 

 to be won outright, first attempt. The "Annual" is 

 very fully illustrated, and contains several interesting 

 articles by well-known experts — amongst others, one 

 by Mr. Atlee Burpee, the celebrated American grower, 

 who gives his impressions of a visit to England during 

 the summer of last year. It contains also a very com- 

 plete catalogue of all the sweet peas in commerce, and 

 " The Opinions " and " Experiences" of about fifty of 

 the best known growers in the United Kingdom on the 

 best varieties, the best methods of cultivation, protec- 

 tion against birds and insects, and the remedies em- 

 ployed against diseases. The "Annual" is distributed 

 free to all members of the National Sweet Pea Society. 

 It can be procured by non-members from the hon. sec, 

 Mr. C. H. Curtis, Adelaide Road, Brentford, Middlesex, 

 Price 1/3, post free 



T 



*HE sowing time is close at 

 hand for those who have 

 not adopted autumn sowing, 

 which is becoming more generally 

 \^f the practice where soils are light 

 and well drained. For spring 

 sowing, however, the stations or 

 rows should have been trenched 

 and manured in November, and 

 the surface left rough, to take full 

 advantage of the sweetening in- 

 fluences of the winter's frost. 

 Where this has not been possible, 

 not a moment must be lost now whenever the 

 soil is in a fairly dry condition. An open 

 position enjoying to the full all the bright 

 sunshine that is to be had, where the rows 

 can run north and south, and where the 

 soil can be trenched three spits deep without 

 coming upon sand, gravel, jam pots or sardine 

 tins, is an ideal one for most sweet peas, 

 especially if it is well sheltered from fierce 

 winds, by trees that are not so close that they 

 would interfere with the light and the free 

 circulation of air. Some varieties, such as 

 Henry Eckford, Evelyn Byatt, Helen Lewis, 

 Scarlet Gem, and others with orange shades, 

 must have protection from the sun's rude glare, 

 and if a suitable position cannot be found for 

 them artificial shading must be given. Henry 

 Eckford is most beautiful when grown in this 

 way, and well repays the additional trouble. It 

 has been often said that any soil where peas 

 grow well will suit sweet peas, but how many 

 gardens are there where peas are never grown 

 and where ideal sites and good depth of earth 

 are not to be had ? 



Digging. — To make the best of what we have, take out 

 a trench two feet wide, running north and south if pos- 

 sible and not in a draughty position ; throw the top spit on 

 one side and the second spit on the other. The depth of 

 each spit will depend on the depth of the soil, if they 

 can be 12 to 15 inches each so much the better. Fork up 

 thoroughly the bottom of the trench, breaking the clods 

 fine, and if the subsoil is gravelly or hungry place on it 

 a good 6-inch layer of half-rotted manure, cow or pig for 

 choice. If the sub-soil is good, a 3 or 4-inch layer will 

 be sufficient ; rake in 6 inches of the second spit, and in- 

 corporate this well with the manure, tramping it to make 

 it firm, then rake in 6 inches of the top spit, and place 

 upon it 3 or 4 inches of well-rotted manure, forking it 

 well in with a little old lime or mortar rubbish, and then 

 fill in the trench with the remainder of the top spit, mixing 

 with it some soot, wood ashes, and a dressing of super- 

 phosphate, about three ounces to the square yard. 

 Finish all off three inches lower than the surrounding 

 surface to facilitate watering in dry weather. Having 

 made all firm by tramping as the work proceeded, give 

 a light forking after each tramping to prevent any caking 

 of the surface, for sweet peas must have a firm root run. 

 Sowing. — It will be quite early enough to sow the 

 seeds the last week in February or the first week in 



