SWEET PEAS UP TO DATE 



of the Sweet Pea seed used each year all over the world 

 is grown in this country. 



Had any one sixteen years ago said that the Sweet 

 Pea would become within the next few years the most 

 popular flower of the day, he would have been laughed 

 at, and yet this has now become an/iomplished fact. 



I can well remember when the first "Sweet Pea 

 Show" in England was planned (that was in '1900). 

 Although I was a great admirer of the Sweet Pea and 

 had seen and grown all the new varieties as they were 

 introduced, I simply laughed at the idea of holding a 

 show of Sweet Peas alone and I was only a unit among 

 the many scoffers at the project. But, thanks to those 

 at the helm, the first show at the Crystal Palace, London, 

 was held, and turned out to be such a success that since 

 that year the Sweet Pea Society has held its annual 

 Show, and now the National Sweet Pea Society is among 

 the most flourishing of the "one flower" societies; and 

 it is impossible to describe to those who nave not at- 

 tended any of their exhibitions the enthusiasm which 

 prevails among the exhibitors, the immensity of the 

 Show and the exquisite exhibits from the trade growers: 

 flowers of the largest size with stems eighteen inches to 

 two feet long, the long lines of decorated tables, and, 

 last but not least, the novelties. Of course, the novel- 

 ties are not all gems of the first water, but no Show 

 passes without some great improvement in color or 

 form appearing. The Aquarium Show of 1901 will 

 long be remembered, as it was there that Silas Cole, of 

 Althorp Gardens, Northampton, first exhibited his 

 glorious "Countess Spencer/' which was three years 

 later introduced by the late MR. ROBERT SYDENHAM, 

 of Birmingham. The "Countess Spencer" was such 



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