STAKING AND TRELLISING 



The Rev. W. T. Hutchins' advice on staking, as 

 given in one of our former publications, is also of in- 

 terest on this important point in Sweet Pea culture, and 

 we append the following extracts: 



"There are all degrees of success in growing Sweet 

 Peas, and the answer to the question of what kind of 

 support to give them depends largely on how thrifty 

 your vines are. I expect my own vines to make a 

 strong growth, at least six feet high, and, besides the 

 matter of height, it is quite evident that such a weight 

 of vines when wet, and when the strain of a gust of 

 wind comes broadside on them, will require a very 

 strong support. If you care for only moderate success, 

 smaller bushes or four-foot poultry wire may be suf- 

 ficient. If your soil has neither depth nor riches and 

 you provide a six-foot hedge of birch, your bushes will 

 be more conspicuous than your Sweet Peas. Or, if 

 you neglect your vines and let them go to seed, they 

 will dry up when two-thirds grown. Or, if you plant 

 them too thickly, they will make a spindling and 

 shorter growth. You are the one to decide whether 

 you want a four-foot or a six-foot support. 



'Then, if you ask what to make the support of, 

 judging from most people, you will use that which 

 comes most convenient. 



"Here are the points to be considered in a support 

 for Sweet Peas. Grow them at their best, and provide 

 for both height and strength, then allow for their loose 

 branching habit, and give them width enough to ramble. 

 I use birches entirely. They are brought to me in 

 twelve or fourteen foot lengths, just as cut from the 

 patch, and from each I get one good stout one seven 

 feet high, and the lighter top is used to fill in. 



