78 SWEET PEAS 



The King, crimson : Mrs. Andrew Ireland, bicolor ; Mrs. Henry 

 Bell, cream, with a deep border of rose ; Evelyn Hemus, cream, 

 pink edge ; Rosie Adams, rose standards, violet wings ; Constance 

 Oliver, rose, cream centre ; and Elsie Herbert, white, pink edge. 

 All of these are splendid exhibition varieties. 



Superphosphate and Sweet Peas. You should have taken 

 out a trench at least twice as wide, viz. two feet, if you wish to get 

 good exhibition flowers. Again, it was a mistake to mix the bone meal 

 with the soil at the bottom of the trench. I always believe in keeping 

 artificials of all sorts near the surface, as they work down rapidly 

 with rains, and are wasted when buried deeply. You have acted 

 quite correctly in scattering on and raking in the superphosphate, 

 and you need not have the slightest apprehension as to its harming 

 either the seeds or the plants. The first week in March is a very 

 good time to sow, but better wait a few weeks than sow if the soil 

 is wet and does not work easily. 



Sweet Peas for Market. There is no doubt that Sweet Peas 

 are a very remunerative crop if well and intelligently handled, but 

 so many growers now send to the London markets that competition 

 is very keen. If you can dispose of the flowers locally I would 

 advise you to do so by all means, as you will make more money first 

 hand and also avoid railway rates. In bunching, keep strictly to one 

 variety or colour in each bunch, as mixed Sweet Peas command 

 little sale. Cut when two flowers on a spray are opened, make 

 up into bunches of twelve sprays per bunch, and stand the ends 

 of the stems in water for a few hours before despatching them. If 

 the bunches are packed so that they cannot shake about, no packing 

 beyond a few sheets of tissue paper will be required. Prices vary 

 very much according to the supply, but in early June it is not un- 

 usual to get 2s. 6d. per dozen bunches of twelve sprays in Covent 

 Garden Market ; as the season advances the prices drop to about 

 Is. per dozen bunches. In sending to London, select only the best 

 flowers, for nothing inferior has a chance of selling. 



Sweet Peas for Early Bloom. If your greenhouse is very 

 light, efficiently heated, and well equipped with ventilators, there is 

 no apparent reason why you should not successfully grow Telemly 

 Sweet Peas. They are easy to manage and will flower from 

 Christmas onwards if the plants are kept clean and healthy. 



Sweet Pea Seedlings and Soot. I am afraid that you 

 have been far too liberal in the application of soot to the seedlings, 

 and this is borne out by your own experience, i.e. " the seedlings 



