PREFACE 



IF the rose is queen of summer flowers, then surely the Sweet Pea 

 is a high princess ; second only to the rose in popular estima- 

 tion, she possesses advantages to which the other is a stranger. 

 Sweet Peas are among the easiest of all flowers to grow, yet 

 how few grow them well ! They are absurdly cheap, and one 

 makes a fresh start with them every year. And how quickly 

 they come to fullest beauty ! A few short months and lo ! the 

 insignificant seed becomes a lissom plant, varying in height and 

 vigour according to its treatment, and soon is smothered in 

 blossom . 



To become a successful grower of Sweet Peas one has first to 

 appreciate the fact that they are bons vivants; to put it more plainly, 

 they need a soil deeply dug and well manured. Give them a rich 

 feeding ground and they seem never to tire of pleasing you ; stint 

 them in this particular, and how sulky they are, how offended ! 



In the selection of varieties the grower has a bewildering choice, 

 and where so many are beautiful it is almost as difficult to discard 

 the worst as to choose the best. Thus the way to successful Sweet 

 Pea growing is not without its baffling cross-roads and seductive bye- 

 lanes, and it is hard to retrace a step taken in the wrong direction. 

 It is important, then, to start well and to take no short cuts, for, 

 tempting as these may seem, they are but lures to failure. " Sweet 

 Peas and How to Grow Them," contains the maxims (without the 

 moralisings) of famous Sweet Pea growers and full directions for 

 the Sweet Pea lover's journey. In short, it endeavours to act 

 as guide to the inexperienced, indicating the pitfalls that beset 

 the unwary, to while away the tediousness of the going, and to 



point the way to a successful issue. 



EJ. H. T. 



January, 1909. 



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