284 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



December, 191 1 



Practical Plaat Breeding, Figure 7 



is that it does not burn the tendrils and 

 permits the plants to put out their 

 branches naturally in all directions, as a 

 t ee does, instead of only to the tight or 

 to the left, as when trained on wires. 

 Hut, until heavily covered by the vines, 

 l)rush is very unsightly. 



Sweet peas may also be planted to 

 lun over the lower branches of a climb- 

 ing rose or vine. It will thus escape the 

 scorching Iheat that is reflected from a 

 bare wall or fence. The sweet peas will 

 begin to flower just as the other climber 

 is fading. But the ground must be made 

 very rich, otherwise the sweet peas will 

 not be able to compete with the woody 

 climber. 



THE TJSE OP TUBS 



Even for formal decorative effect sweet 

 peas may be grown in large tubs and 

 placed like clipped box trees, along walks 

 or on terraces. The tubs sihould be of 

 wood, painted green, deep rather than 

 broad, and with some holes bored in the 

 bottom. Some broken flower pots 

 sihould be put in and then a mixture of 

 old sod, roughly torn up, and old man- 

 ure, to within a few inches of the tlop, 

 then some fine soil. An early start may 

 be obtained by planting the tub in a 

 greenhouse and removing it to the kit- 

 chen garden or some other inconspicu- 

 ous position when all danger of frost is 

 past. 



When the plants have come up, they 

 should be thinned out until they are 

 about three inches apart. Some strong 

 support such as galvanized wire rods'^ 

 fastened together here and there, or a 

 ■cylinder of wire netting, should be oro- 

 vided at once and the vines carefully 

 trained up it. When the plants are about 

 to flower, the tub may be removed to the 

 terrace, lawn or other position for which 

 it has been specially designed. Liquid 

 manure and other stimulants should be 

 used, but not too much lest the leaves 

 wither. 



Varieties that do not grow very high 

 are the best to plant in tubs as they flow- 

 er early in the season. Mount Blanc, a 

 white, does well in quite small tubs, or 

 large flower pots, as it grows only about 

 eighteen inches high. It is also splendid 

 for bare spots here and there in the per- 

 ennial border. I have found Cupid 

 sweet peas to be utterly useless in pots, 

 in tubs and in the open ground. 



IN CIRCLES 



A favorite way of growing sweet peas 

 in the Old Country is in circles in the 

 middle of beds of annuals. A little tent 

 of brush or wires is set up first and tied 

 at the top. Then the seeds are sown. If 

 the plants show a tendency to stretch 

 away from the support, a light twig or 

 wire can be so worked as to encourage 

 tJhe tendrils to take hold. Here this has 

 the disadvantage that the support is un- 

 sightly until midsummer. 



WATERING 



.Sweet peas require a great deal of 

 water here in Toronto. The best way is 

 to give them, say, half an hour with a 

 very fine spray at sundown two or three 

 times a week rather than a hasty splash 

 every evening. But soft water that has 

 stood in the sun is better than the 

 chilly water from the hose. The fine 

 spray, however, is most useful in knock- 

 ing the green flies off the plants. 



CULTIVATION 



After watering the ground must be 

 stirred up around the plants and always 

 kept from looking smooth. Or a mulch 

 of dried grass clippings may be laid upon 

 the ground, but not too close to the 

 vines. In this case not so much watering 

 will be required and the ground need not 

 be stirred so frequently, as the mulah- 

 will prevent it from baking hard and 

 will keep it moist. A constant watch 

 must be kept on the mulch itself lest it 

 become mildewy or pasty and afl^ord a 

 pleasant rendezvous for injurious in- 

 sects. 



The foregoing methods of culture m.r, 

 appear extremely difficult and possibi 

 lorbidding. But we have only to turn to 

 the horticultural magazines and books of 

 the Old Country to see what we consider 

 tender care of sweet peas here would 

 there be looked upon as rank neglect, 

 f'or they only get their magnificent suc- 

 cesses with sweet peas after persistent 

 vigilance against rabbits, cats, moles, 

 mice, blackbirds, slugs, snails, stripe, 

 mildew and a number of fancy fungous 

 diseases that we are not troubled with 

 here. 



Floral Notes for December 



Wm. Hut, O.A.C., Gulpk, O.L 



It is not yet too late to plant a few bulbs 

 of hyacinth and narcissus if the bulbs 

 have been kept in a cool place and are 

 good and firm. It should be remember- 

 ed that the main point necessary to suc- 

 cess in pot culture in bulbs is to see that 

 a good root system is developed before 

 they are brought out into Hhe light. If 

 the pots are plunged or buried in sand 

 or soil in the cellar they should be taken 

 out from the sand before the top growth 

 is much over two inches in height. Do 

 not leave them in the sand too long. 



CACTUS AND SUCCULENT PLANTS 



Cactus, Agaves, Aloes and plants of a 

 like nature should not be given too much 

 water during the winter. The soil should 

 be kept only barely moist. The Christ- 

 mas or Lobster cactus (Epiphyllum trun- 

 catum) and winter flowering cactus may 

 be watered a little more liberally. The 

 summer flowering Cereus, especially the 

 night flowering type should not be wat- 

 ered too heavily during the winter. 



The different varieties of cactus, 

 agaves, and so forth, and succulent 

 plants generally grown in greenhouses 

 and windows, are usually natives of 

 countries where decidedly wet and dry 

 seasons prevail. About half of the year 

 very wet weather is tfhe rule, the balance 

 of the year being very hot, dry and arid. 

 By keeping these plants moderately dry 

 at the roots, it induces the season of par- 

 tial rest that they get naturally in their 

 native environments. 



A Good Root Growth 



J 



