VII 

 SEED GROWING 



WHEN the grandiflora or old type of Sweet Pea was 

 the only one in existence, seed growing presented 

 few difficulties. It was a common sight then to 

 see acres of plants unstaked, from which quite 

 good crops of seed were obtained ; now-a-days, 

 if the same method was tried with the waved 

 varieties, the result would be a complete failure. 



The reason is that the waved forms with a very 

 few exceptions are not free seeders. The repro- 

 ductive organs are more delicate ; they are not 

 so well situated to assure pollination being ac- 

 complished, and adverse weather conditions at 

 once tell on them. 



Sweet Pea growing for seed has therefore 

 "changed hands" in England, and what is done 

 now is done by growers who are more or less ex- 

 perts. It has been found that spring-sown plants 

 are much less reliable than autumn-sown ones for 

 seed, and therefore the practice of autumn-sowing 

 is generally followed by the best firms. The seed 



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