138 GARDEN GUIDE 



be thoroughly cleaned and dusted with soot or lime. They can stand 

 quite a lot of cold, but do not have them wet at the same time. Trans- 

 plant outdoors when possible; this is usually about mid-April. Nor- 

 mally, the seed should be sown in open ground as early as March. 

 As soon as the soil is warm enough the seeds will germinate. 

 Fall Sowing 



For the Autunm sowing of Sweet Peas a piece of soil should be 

 selected which will warm quickly in the Spring. Spade it up to good 

 depth, two to three feet, but use no manure. Make a trench two inches 

 deep and sow the seed thickly and cover with loose soil. When the 

 seedHngs have germinated and freezing weather has begun, cover with 

 four inches of coarse litter or straw, which must be removed in the early 

 Spring after heavy frosts are past. The seed should be sown so that 

 the shoots are just at surface of the soil when Winter sets in; therefore, 

 sow in late October or early in November, according to latitude. 

 Summer Treatment 



Give frequent cultivation and when the plants are nicely budded 

 work bonemeal into the soil along the rows. If conditions are very hot 

 and dry give the plants frequent syringings, which will keep down 

 the red spider, and will not allow aphis a chance to multiply. 



Staking 



Perhaps no method is so successful as the use of brush. Stretch- 

 ing string from pole to pole is an easy way. Such cord can be easily 

 removed when the Peas are through blooming. Coarse poultry yard 

 netting is rather useful for supporting the vines, but has two objections: 

 it must be cleaned each year, and it is thought to become heated a 

 Httle too much, causing the Sweet Pea vmes to dry prematurely. 

 Gathering the Flowers 



The flowers should be kept closely picked during the blossoming 

 season, as the vines cease to bloom when the seed pods are allowed to set. 



SWEET WILLIAM 



Old-time gardens always provided a place of honor for the well- 

 known Sweet Wilham (Dianthus barbatus), and among flower-lovers of 

 the present day they are also held in high esteem. They are easily 

 grown in any good soil and their trusses of bloom of bright and varied 

 colors produce a beautiful effect. The Sweet WiUiam is classed as a 

 perennial, but better results are obtained when it is treated as a bien- 

 nial. It flowers the second year from seed. 



TRITOMA 



Among hardy perennial plants the Tritoma, with Red-hot Poker, 

 Flame Flower and Torch Lily, as common names, occupies a prominent 



