SWEET PEA CULTURE. 



523 



snapping sound, and any one curious to wit- 

 ness the phenomenon, may stand near the 

 witch hazel on a warm, dry, sunny day, and 

 see it sow its seeds. The case splits nearly 

 to the base, and after the seeds have been 

 sent bounding, the appearance of the seed 

 cases is like the wide open mouth of a ser- 

 pent. It is an interesting experiment to 

 cut the branches with the embryo fruit and 

 keep them in a worm room until the expul- 

 sion sends the seeds bouncing around the 

 room. Arboretums may well be adorned 

 with these interesting trees native to our 

 forests. Parks are interesting when 

 adorned with shrubs and trees of marked 

 and unusual features, and such is the char- 



acteristic of the witch hazel. The foliage 

 is obovate or oval, wavy, toothed, and 

 «^raight veined, slightly downy and alter- 

 nate, not unlike the filbert or hazel nut. 



Among the belated flowers, aster and gol- 

 den rod, it is charming to the senses to 

 come suddenly upon the wildling witch 

 haz«l in bloom. The sweet perfume in- 

 variably makes the proximity of the tree 

 known, and it is curious to note the manner 

 in which the light yellow blossoms cUng io 

 the tree. They are almost without stems, 

 and are set in neat little nests up and down 

 and all around every limb, seeming to nestle 

 against the branch after the leaves have 

 fallen. — Fark and Cemetery. 



SWEET PEA CULTURE. 



1HAVE been asked to give my rules for 

 growing sweet peas for the finest flow- 

 ers, and. the longest season of bloom. One 

 — Always sow the seed early. Peas are the 

 first seeds I put in the ground, and this just 

 as soon as the soil can be worked. The ad- 

 vantage in this is that the plants need the 

 strength that comes from early spring 

 growth in order to carry them thriftly 

 through hot weather. Two — Prepare the 

 soil deeply and include some bone in the 

 manure. Wood ashes also are excellent, as 

 they keep the soil damp. Three — Sow^ in 

 trenches something like old-fashioned celery 

 trenches, about four or five inches deep. The 



seed should be covered with two inches oi 

 soil at the first, and then fill in almost but 

 not quite enough soil in the trench later as 

 growth proceeds, to bring the top even. The 

 slight depression is useful for summer 

 watering in tase of drouth. Four — In the 

 summer mulch the line of peas, and apply 

 water liberally at times if the weather is dry. 

 Lastly — Pick all flowers before they drop, 

 in order to prevent seed bearing, which is 

 fatal to continuous bloom. Follow this 

 course and any one can grow sweet pea to 

 perfection, which means to have plenty Df 

 flowers the season through. — Vick's Maga- 

 sine. 



