MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 425 



dent to worship at a distance, for before blooming it is an unsightly 

 weed, and it is a very ill-smelling one afterward. The darling little 

 sweet pea, however, is so faultless in every particular, is so fragrant 

 and so pretty that you may take it into your room and into your heart 

 without any misgivings. Some one ought to invent a pet name for it 

 that would be as appropriate as Mignonette is to our Reseda Odorata. 

 We have it on the authority of Ian Maclaren that in the Gaelic there 

 are 50 words for darling. Let some Highlander send us a list of them 

 that the prettiest may be given to the sweet pea — M., in Kimmundy 

 Express. 



Sweet Peas. 



Enthusiastic admirers of these dainty blossoms have so persist- 

 ently and widely declared their beauties and merits that sweet peas 

 have already attained to the dignity of a literature of their own, hence 

 anything new upon the subject is not easily presented. 



One ardent cultivator of these "new old" flowers rises to a climax 

 by exclaiming, the sweet pea is the "coming flower." while we of less 

 poetic fancy simply pronounce it is here, and here to stay. Not mere- 

 ly in America has its culture grown to be extensive, but England also 

 has equal claims in bringing these blossoms to the front rank in flori- 

 culture. Mr. Eckford, a specialist of Shopshire, England, has devoted 

 seventeen years to the improvement and development of this flower, 

 and notwithstanding the rapid strides already made by hybridization 

 toward perfection, it seems that the promise of color, form and sub- 

 stance is unlimited. 



Even our cultured Bostonians despise not this plebian flower — 

 quite the contrary, for the annual flower exhibit is never more inter- 

 esting or better attended than on sweet pea day. To make an exhibit 

 one must present not less than fifty stems each of thirty varieties. 



Thelathjrus odoratus, or sweet pea, is a native of Sicily, and made 

 its appearance in the floral world injdelicate tints of pink and white, 

 quite like the variety known today as the painted lady. Both the gar- 

 den and botanical names are suggestive of the charming fragrance 

 which is not the least of the virtues of this popular flower. And the 

 delicate grace and simplicity, coupled with its exquisite coloring, rang- 

 ing from pure white to purple brown, at once gain the admiration of 

 those who discriminate between nature's coarse, gaudier offerings. 



It is marked by its climbing habit and its pinnate leaves ending in 

 branching tendrils. The stem is simple and hairy, and produces its 

 flowers cwo or three together on a long peduncle coming from the side 



