3288 



SWEET PEA 



SWEET PEA 



varieties chosen should be those possessing good, clear, 

 well-defined colors. The Grandiflora varieties are more 



E reductive, but do not bring so good a price in the 

 irger cities as the waved varieties. 



The early crop is sown about August 15, and the later 

 crop during the latter half of September. The seeds are 

 sown in drills where the plants are to stand, except the 

 white-seeded varieties which are sown in sand and trans- 

 planted. The latter do not germinate well in soil, as 

 a rule, but when treated in this way a good stand is 

 secured. When the rows run east and west they should 

 be 5 feet apart, and if they run north and south they 

 may be placed as close as 3 feet. 



The plants should be thinned to four plants to a 

 lineal foot of row whether grown in single or double 

 drills, and in planting from pots this rule should be 

 observed. 



Sweet peas are often grown after chrysanthemums, 

 and for this purpose the plants should be started in 

 2><2-inch pots. Two seeds may be planted in deep rose 

 pots or in paper pots. The soil should be fibrous loam 

 with the addition of fine old manure and sharp sand. 

 The seeds are covered 1 inch deep, 

 and the pots placed in a tempera- 

 ture of 55 to 60 F. for germination, 

 after which the plants must be 

 placed in a lower temperature to 

 prevent them from becoming drawn. 



The plants must soon have sup- 

 ports, and the best material to use 

 under glass is ''string. If the rows 

 are in line with the purlin posts, 

 binder twine can be stretched from 

 post to post on either side of the 

 row thus inclosing the plants. 

 These tiers of string will need to be 

 as close as 6 to 8 inches at the 

 bottom, but later as the vines grow 

 may be as much as a foot apart. 

 When the purlin posts are not in 

 the row, temporary posts of iron 

 pipe or 2- by 2-inch strips may be 

 used. Wire netting is generally 

 condemned by commercial growers, 

 owing to the labor and expense con- 

 nected with its erection and re- 

 moval, and also because they think 

 more crooked-stemmed flowers re- 

 sult. The vines supported by string 

 can be easily removed at a minimum expense and the 

 house quickly made ready for another crop. 



The temperature in the autumn is often too high for 

 sweet peas, and under such conditions the plants often 

 show a tendency to flower when only 2 feet high; but, 

 as a rule, it is usually better to remove all such flowers 

 until the plants gain more strength. As far as possible, 

 the night temperature should be from 40 to 45, for 

 if a higher temperature is given, the plants flower too 

 soon and before they have made a good root-system. 

 When the plants are from 30 inches to 4 feet high and 

 showing buds, the temperature should be gradually 

 raised to 52. This is the highest temperature required 

 for the Grandiflora varieties. When in bloom, the tem- 

 perature should be 60 on cloudy days, and 68 on 

 bright ones. The waved, or orchid-flowering, varieties 

 require the same treatment previous to flowering, after 

 which the night temperature should be 55, 60 to 65 

 on cloudy, and 70 to 72 on sunny days. 



Picking and packing. 



Sweet pea flowers should be picked when the top 

 flower is at least half open, unless the flowers are to 

 be shipped a long distance, when they may be cut in a 

 less fully developed state. The proper time to cut the 

 flowers is in the morning, although this will depend 

 upon the time the shipments can be made. The flowers 



should be kept two to three hours in water before 

 packing, and this will govern the hour of picking for 

 the florist. The flowers must be packed dry, and if the 

 outdoor flowers must be picked wet, they should be 

 placed while in water in a warm current of air to dry 

 the blooms. The flowers are made into bunches of 

 nineteen to twenty-six spikes, according to quality. 

 These are tied near the base of the stems, which are 

 wrapped with waxed paper. The bunches are packed 

 in shallow boxes with one, or at most two, layers of 

 bunches packed in each box thus preventing the bruis- 

 ing of the flowers. The boxes often employed are 4 

 by 10 by 12 or 5 by 12 by 24 inches in depth, width, 

 and length. The amount of wrapping on the boxes 

 will depend on the temperature and other conditions 

 at the time of shipment. 



Exhibiting. 



Exhibitors should keep the flowers off their vines 

 until four or five days before the exhibition, and three 

 days before this event a shade of cheese-cloth should 

 be erected over the orange-, scarlet-, and blue-flowered 



3749. Interior of sweet pea house. 



varieties to prevent the scorching of the blooms. This 

 shading must be removed after the exhibition flowers 

 are cut. The spikes are cut so that all the flowers are 

 fully open when they are judged. The ideal spike has 

 a stem 12 to 18 inches long with four flowers. Twenty 

 spikes loosely arranged so that each may be easily seen, 

 is the proper number for a vase. The stems may be 

 kept in the proper position by placing in the vases 

 some 2-inch pieces of stiff reeds or grass stems. Some 

 gypsophila may be used in the vases if permitted by 

 the rules of the competition. Arrange the vases of a 

 collection of varieties so that colors do not clash and 

 so as best to exhibit the merit of the blooms. The 

 educational value of the exhibit is enhanced if each 

 vase is neatly labeled with the name of the variety. 



Insects and other pests. 



Snails sometimes destroy sweet pea seedlings in 

 frames or greenhouses, but can be prevented by scatter- 

 ing lime under the pots. The red-spider is sometimes 

 troublesome in the greenhouse and outdoors, and can 

 be controlled by the usual methods. The green aphis 

 or "green-fly" attacks sweet peas under glass, but is 

 easily controlled by regular fumigations of tobacco 

 preparations. In the garden a larger green aphis, the 

 clover aphis, is not infrequently found, but spraying 

 with tobacco extract, nicotine, or kerosene emulsion 



