SWEET PEAS AND THEIR CULTURE 87 



as the vines grow. An ordinary poultry wire nailed 

 to posts furnishes a satisfactory support. This 

 may be placed on a movable post and taken up each 

 fall and wire rolled and set aside for another season. 



Types and Varieties. The varieties of sweet pea 

 are legion. As far back as 1793, a London seed man 

 listed five varieties, including the following colors : 

 White, purple, scarlet, black, and painted lily. Three 

 or four decades later yellow and striped variations 

 appeared. Then came flesh pink, rose pink, etc. 

 When Henry Eckford interested himself in the 

 breeding and improvement of sweet peas in 1876, he 

 soon had many variations and combinations of 

 color, also of form and conformation. In 1898 there 

 were about 150 specifically named sorts. Now there 

 are many more. 



The standard type of sweet peas for decades was 

 the tall-growing sort for northern latitudes where 

 climate is comparatively cool. California was 

 among the first states in America to become inter- 

 ested in sweet peas. It was not long before the 

 environment produced a variation of the tall sorts; 

 a semi-dwarf more adapted to exposure where 

 climate is dry and hot became recognized. This 

 class is known as the Cupid sweet pea. Foliage is 

 thick, dense, and reaches down well over the 

 ground, protecting the roots from exposure. An- 

 other type is the Bush sweet pea, something similar 

 to the Cupid as regards height and adaptability. 

 However, foliage is .not so dense and does not reach 

 down to the ground as thoroughly. It is sufficiently 

 dwarfed so that no support is needed. Still a third 

 type is the Trailing sweet pea, where the vine is in- 

 clined to be recumbent. It seldom reaches more 



