THE SWEET PEA, 



Lathyrus odoratus. 



T is a singular circumstance thai 

 the sweet pea has been com- 

 monly regarded as a half-hardy 

 annual, whereas it is as hardy 

 as any pea in cultivation, and 

 the seed may not only be "sown 

 in February in the open ground, 

 but in November, and if the 

 mice do not eat it the winter will 

 not kill it, and in due time the 

 plants will appear with the sunshine 

 of the early spring. But this fine 

 plant deserves extra care, and should 

 never be grown in a careless manner. 

 It is the custom with many gardeners 

 to sow the seed in pots and nurse the young 

 plants in frames, but we f refer to sow them 

 where they are to remain, and to defer 

 doing this until the middle of March, for if the plants 

 come up with a flush of warm weather before the frosts 

 are over, they are apt to be nipped, and transplanting 

 puts them back, so that to raise them in pots for the 

 purpose is decidedly objectionable. Thus we simplify the 



