SWEET PEAS UP TO DATE 



in vases and placed in a room where there is a little 

 heat, but through which a current of air is playing that 

 they may dry off ere being packed, for if they are at all 

 moist when packed for travelling, the flowers will, 

 when unpacked, be found to be discolored and spotted 

 and many of the blooms will drop from the stems. 



In staging the flowers never crowd them. Let 

 every flower "speak for itself/' Twenty sprays make 

 a nice vase, and the best method of arranging them is 

 to start by putting some stiff grass or reeds (cut two 

 inches long) in the mouth of the vase, as this helps to 

 keep the stems in position. Each stem must be put in 

 separately. Let every flower be seen as far as possible 

 and all face one way, with the exception of such varieties 

 as have the back of the standards tinted in coloring 

 other than the ground color of the flower, when the 

 position of such might be judiciously varied. One or 

 two pieces of foliage a little Gypsophila or light 

 grass, such as Agrostis Nebulosa, might with advantage 

 be used. But this should not be overdone, and only if 

 the rules allow of it. 



In staging a collection of twelve varieties, they 

 should be stood in three rows, the back rows being 

 tiered eight or nine inches above the other, and arrange 

 the colors so that they do not clash. Even if the show 

 schedule does not ask for it, name each variety with 

 a neat card placed at the base of each vase. 



During very hot or stormy weather, some exhibitors 

 cut their flowers in the bud stage or partly open and 

 allow them to fully expand in water, adding about 

 a quarter of an ounce of sulphate of iron to three 

 gallons of water. Some colors, such as the light blues, 

 mauves and lavenders improve very much in color by 



34 



