CHAPTER X 



WHICH METHOD OF CULTURE PRODUCES THE EARLIER 

 FLOWERS ? 



FROM close observation we have ascertained that an 

 autumn sowing of Sweet Peas may be depended on 

 to provide a display of blooms a week or two earlier 

 than that obtained by other methods. Although the 

 period of sowing in the autumn may vary to a con- 

 siderable extent, the plants almost uniformly come 

 into blossom from the middle to the end of the 

 succeeding June. Of course there are instances where 

 a few representative early varieties come into flower 

 a week or so earlier than that mentioned above, but, 

 as a general rule, we may safely anticipate our Sweet 

 Peas being in full blossom by the latter part of June. 

 This result may be obtained from a sowing made 

 outdoors in the autumn. There are growers who 

 make an autumn sowing in pots in frames, plunging 

 the latter to their rims in ashes, cocoa-nut-fibre refuse, 

 or any other equally suitable material, in this way 

 affording protection to the roots in frosty weather 

 and maintaining a fairly even condition of the soil 

 throughout the trying winter season. Sweet Peas 

 raised in pots in the autumn in the way we have 

 suggested, give us some little advantage in point of 

 time in coming into flower. The chief advantage 

 accruing to pot culture at this period is that it enables 

 a grower whose garden soil and situation preclude 

 him from sowing outdoors in the autumn, to gain time, 



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