Culture for the Average Matt 



grown strongly two tiers of trainers will be found 

 necessary, and posts must be put in at the begin- 

 ning to carry them. The trainers are generally 

 made six by four feet, so that one above the other 

 gives a height of eight feet. It is not advisable 

 to put up the second one until the plants have 

 almost reached the top of the first one. 



Wide meshed (four inch) wire netting is also 

 used by some, and makes a most effectual sub- 

 stitute for hazel or other natural stakes. It can 

 be got any width, and if neatly put up on posts 

 is not long unsightly, as the growths soon obscure 

 it. Clumps are easily made with this wide 

 meshed wire-netting. Cut it off in lengths of six 

 or seven feet, and secure it in the form of a circle 

 to two posts driven into the ground at two feet 

 apart. With all wire trainers the plants are helped 

 if tied in here and there with thin strands of 

 raffia. There has recently been put on the market 

 a string or cord netting for sweet peas, called 

 " Simplicitas Netting " and I have seen quite 

 good results with it in sheltered gardens. It 

 only remains to be said that the plants will 

 be much improved, the size of the flowers enlarged, 

 and the number of the stems increased if regular 

 doses of weak liquid manure are given along the 

 rows or round the clumps (keeping a few inches 



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