CHAPTER II 



Sweet Peas for Home and Garden 



MOST people who grow Sweet Peas do so for the sake of a beautiful 

 display in the garden, and to have flowers for home decoration. 

 Those who grow for exhibition are in the minority. Nevertheless, 

 we owe a deep debt of gratitude to the exhibitors, for not only do 

 they provide us with flower shows which are, perhaps, unsurpassed 

 for charm and brilliance, but they teach us how to grow Sweet Peas 

 to perfection, and show how wonderfully this flower responds to 

 correct and systematic treatment. While we need not follow their 

 methods blindly when our object is to grow Sweet Peas for home 

 and garden, there are still many lessons we may learn from them. 



Deep Cultivation. First, and most important of all, perhaps, 

 is deep cultivation. Anyone wishing to have a presentable row 

 of Sweet Peas must be prepared to dig the border two feet deep, and 

 to incorporate some well-decayed manure towards the bottom of 

 the cultivated ground. This is work that is preferably undertaken 

 in the autumn. Then, too, we have the value of early sowing; 

 the middle of February is the best time to sow the seeds out of 

 doors in the border if the flowers are not for exhibition. Yet how 

 few amateurs will do this ! Only those who are very keen, I am 

 afraid. Nevertheless there is no doubt as to its beneficial effect. 

 Early sowing means deep and well-rooted plants, and such as these 

 are alone well able to withstand the summer drought and the strain 

 imposed by a long season of flowering. 



On Sowing Seeds. The question as to the proper distance apart 

 to sow is a thorny one, and not many years ago one would have 

 thought a distance of six inches between each plant in the row 

 to be more than enough ; but then we never expected to see Sweet 

 Peas eight and ten feet high ; now these are common. Whether 

 the seeds are sown six or twelve inches apart depends upon the 

 way in which you propose to grow them and the -results you wish to 

 obtain. If you want to produce really creditable specimens, I 

 should advise having the plants twelve inches apart. If you are not 



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