^ ACRES OF SWEET PEAS 151 



kept out," as J. J. Taubenhaus remarks in his 

 book The Culture and Diseases of the Sweet 

 Pea, which every grower of what is at present 

 perhaps the most popular of all flowers should 

 have for advice. 



Not all places in California are equally suitable 

 for sweet peas. The ideal spots are the valleys 

 where the fog rolls in from the ocean in the 

 evening, keeping the air moist and cool, but 

 satisfactory results can be achieved almost 

 anywhere on the Pacific coast. 



Maine is more favorable to the sweet pea than 

 New York State or farther south till you reach 

 a latitude where the seeds can be planted (as in 

 California) in the autumn. I have had rows in 

 my garden up here with vines so tall that I 

 could not reach their tips with my fingers, and 

 bearing numberless flowers. But the plants are 

 cranky and fussy everywhere. While they 

 stand a light frost or two, they must be care- 

 fully guarded against scorching heat, such as 

 we have occasionally in August, July, or even 

 June and September. How? Not by shading 

 the vines they must be out in the open but 

 by keeping the roots at cellar temperature. 



Most gardeners who fail with their sweet 

 peas and many, unfortunately, do owe their 

 lack of success usually to their not bearing in 

 mind these points: The ground (neither too 

 sandy nor too wet) must be spaded at least two 

 feet deep; the seeds must be put in at the 



