86 SWEET PEAS 



comes in winter is also unusually dry in the summer. Thus it will 

 be obvious that Sweet Peas already thoroughly well rooted before 

 the hot days set in stand a far greater chance of giving a good 

 return than plants sown, say, in February. 



Sowing and Winter Treatment, But in heavy soil, soil 

 that keeps wet and sticky all through the winter, autumn sowing is 

 a mistake, for it is more than likely that the seedlings will die off 

 "damp off," as the gardening term has it. I have tried autumn- 

 sown Sweet Peas in a garden in the suburbs, but they were not a 

 success. They began to damp off so badly in early December that I 

 took them up and potted them, and in this way, keeping them in a 

 cold frame, managed to save the majority. There is one important 

 point which those who sow Sweet Peas in the autumn ought to 

 observe, viz. that the seeds should not be sown too early. The 

 month of October is soon enough. If they are put in earlier the 

 plants grow rapidly during the warm weather, which is often 

 experienced in late September or early October, with the result that 

 they are several inches high before the winter, and are so much 

 more liable to injury from frost than dwarf plants from seeds sown 

 later. Earthing up the soil about the base of the stems is advisable, 

 since it protects from injury the most vital part of the plant the 

 collar a name commonly applied to the point of junction between 

 stem and root. Another, and a safer method, one that may be prac- 

 tised in any garden possessing a cold frame, is to sow the seeds in 

 pots in October, and keep them in the frame. The following is the 

 experience of one who annually grows most of his Sweet Peas this 

 way, and is altogether pleased with the results : 



Injurious Effects of Applied Heat. I would at once like 

 to say that Sweet Peas will not be a success if the plants are coddled 

 in any way ; they will not be improved but injured by forcing. If 

 dry, 8 or 10 of frost will not kill the plants ; but if possible they 

 should not be subjected to any frost. If they are frozen in the 

 frames some mats should at once be put on to prevent the sun 

 shining on the plants. The mats are kept on until the frost has 

 gone. When treated thus the plants will not suffer. But it would 

 be very unwise to place the plants in a warm frame during the 

 winter. They ought to be planted in the open border at the end 

 of March or early in April, and as we then often experience very 

 cold weather, a serious check to growth would result. Even when 

 grown in a cool frame the plants must be further hardened before 

 they are planted in their flowering quarters. This can easily be 



