CHAPTER XXIQ 



THE SWEET PEA 



IT would be an effort at once superfluous and presumptuous 

 to attempt to say anything in praise of the sweet pea as a 

 desirable subject for culture by the amateur gardener. 

 Everybody knows the flower, and everybody loves it for its 

 fragrance and its beauty. The gardener who cultivates a small 

 plot of ground at the back of his house especially cherishes it 

 because of the simplicity of its culture and because the reward 

 which follows upon a very little effort on his own part is so rich 

 and so satisfying. 



To the genuine enthusiast the height of his ambition has been 

 attained when he finds his choicest specimens displayed on the 

 exhibition bench, and if he be the winner of a first prize his delight 

 knows no bounds. Truly he has his reward. For my part, how- 

 ever, I prefer to think of the sweet pea as a flower which provides 

 a gorgeous display of bloom in the summer garden, and as a de- 

 corative subject in the house. For absolute beauty there are few 

 things in this world more delightful than a vase of freshly plucked 

 sweet peas unless, indeed, it be a bowl of well-grown, shapely 

 roses. 



After all, the growers of sweet peas whose be-all and end-all is 

 the winning of trophies at an exhibition are in a minority. The 

 vast majority of us are content if we can grow a batch or two of 

 sweet peas that shall not put us to shame. But we shall not be 

 wholly satisfied unless we have included in our selection one or 

 two of the latest and choicest varieties, and it is here that the 

 exhibitor and the expert come to our aid. 



A notable advantage which the amateur reaps from the severe 

 competition of the professional sweet-pea raiser is the cheapness 

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