78 THE BOOK OF THE SWEET PEA 



Opinions differ as to what the length of these stakes 

 should be. Many growers are quite content with pea- 

 sticks some eight feet in length, using strings fastened 

 to taller stakes inserted at intervals in the rows and 

 secured to uprights at each end of the rows, also by these 

 means carrying the growths to a greater height. The 

 more successful growers prefer hazel stakes some ten 

 to fourteen feet in length, as this enables them to insert 

 them securely in the ground and at the same time to 

 ensure a free run at least nine to twelve feet more or 

 or less in length for the vigorous growths that always 

 develop as a consequence of good culture. 



To the inexperienced grower this may seem quite an 

 unnecessary provision, but practice has proved that it is 

 not so. We have seen Sweet Peas growing away 

 freely at the end of September, that were then twelve 

 to fourteen feet high, and carrying a wonderful crop of 

 blossoms for so late in the season. Good culture, and 

 persistent attention to details will accomplish wonders 

 with the Sweet Pea. There is a danger, however, which 

 many growers are prone to ignore, with respect to the 

 too free use of the stakes. As a rule they are inserted 

 too thickly. The sticks should be new and not trimmed. 

 Growers, in ignorance, have removed some of the more 

 twiggy pieces of the boughs, and in doing so have 

 erred in no mean degree. When ordinary pea-sticks 

 are used, the blooms may be gathered quite easily and 

 there is no danger of the growths getting broken and 

 damaged, as is the case so frequently in stormy weather, 

 when strings, wires, etc., are used as supports. Some 

 growers use pieces of old birch brooms for staking the 

 plants in their early history, and others, who have a 

 difficulty in procuring nice twiggy little stakes in the 

 early spring for supporting the plants when they are 

 five or six inches high, utilise some of the more suitable 

 Michaelmas Daisy growths that are ideal for the purpose. 



