HOW NEW SWEET PEAS ARE RAISED 95 



flowers will not be awarded certificates of merit, unless 

 they present quite new and remarkable combinations. 



EXCEPTIONS. Perfectly distinct new colours, such as 

 approaching the blue in Sahia Patens, the yellow in 

 Coreopsis grandiflora, or the scarlet of the Zonal 

 pelargonium, shall be recognised even if the variety shall 

 fall short of the foregoing properties. 



In the attainment of the above-mentioned standard of 

 quality, lovers of the Sweet Pea, who are persons of leisure 

 or, who have the inclination or desire to impose upon 

 themselves the pleasant task of raising new and improved 

 varieties, have had laid down for them excellent lines on 

 which to work. It is a most fascinating occupation. 

 Although the results are always uncertain, still a 

 glorious new kind may be brought into existence by 

 their own individual efforts, that may completely eclipse 

 those already in cultivation. 



The work of raising new Sweet Peas has completely 

 altered in recent years. Formerly, in the Eckfordian 

 type of the flower, one could set to work on certain 

 lines with the sure prospect of effecting some change, but 

 with the newer waved or Spencer types of the flower, 

 the whole aspect of things has changed. 



It is customary to effect the cross-fertilisation of the 

 Sweet Pea by commencing operations as soon as the 

 small buds can be handled. Unless they are dealt 

 with at this very early period, the buds or blossoms 

 quickly become self-fertilised, and the work of the 

 raiser rendered null and void. 



We have to remember that, if cross-fertilisation is to 

 be satisfactorily accomplished, the male organs of the 

 flower it is intended to fertilise must be dealt with 

 before the pollen-sacs on the anthers burst. A careful 

 observation of the organs of the Sweet Pea reveals the 

 stamens united by their filaments into a kind of tube, the 

 anthers remaining free, and the ovary running up this 



