CHAPTER XIV 



WHAT DISTANCE TO OBSERVE BETWEEN THE PLANTS 

 OUTDOORS 



THE last decade is responsible for numerous improvements 

 in the cultivation of many flowers, and in no subject is 

 this more clearly demonstrated than in the case of the 

 Sweet Pea. In the nineties how many lovers of garden- 

 ing dreamed of planting their Sweet Peas six inches to a 

 foot apart ? The process of enlightenment in this matter 

 has been a very gradual one, and not until more recent 

 years have leading growers allowed so much space be- 

 tween the plants. 



It used to be the practice to draw drills and to sow 

 the seeds more or less thickly in them. In course of 

 time, as the culture of Sweet Peas began to assume a 

 more important aspect, growers sowed the seeds less 

 thickly, and at length, a few inches between the seeds or 

 plants began to be recognised as the proper rule to 

 observe. Whether or not it is that the present race of 

 Sweet Peas is more vigorous than those of earlier periods, 

 is difficult to say; but of one fact we are certain and this is, 

 that plants require more room than was allocated to them 

 formerly, but varieties differ considerably in the space 

 they require. What astonishes us is the diversity of 

 views that now prevails on the question of space to allow 

 between the plants. No doubt some of the stronger 

 growing varieties need much more space than those less 

 vigorous in their character, and for this reason the grower 



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