154 THE NEW GARDENING 



are certainly well on the way towards getting double 

 Sweet Peas. A normal flower is composed of an upright 

 petal (the " standard "), two side petals (the " wings ") 

 and a folded petal or petals (the " keel "). As a first 

 step towards becoming double the Sweet Pea has pro- 

 duced two standards. The phenomenon is accompanied 

 by exceptional vigour in the plant, and one of the finest 

 varieties to show it commonly was the giant Picotee- 

 edged cream, Mrs. C. W. Breadmore. 



Those who take note of the beautiful harmony of a good 

 normal Sweet Pea of a modern variety view the approach 

 of the double with some alarm, especially in view of the 

 fact that perfume may diminish with doubling. On the 

 other hand, those who grow flowers for market welcome 

 the prospect of getting double varieties, because double 

 flowers are more lasting and travel better than singles. 

 The American growers have chosen the word " Duplex " 

 to distinguish varieties of this class. 



Turning to the second head, namely culture, we have 

 to recognize at once that it has been revolutionized as 

 completely as the varieties. No longer are Sweet Peas 

 sown broadcast in a line or circle, to come up thickly and 

 grow into a dense mass ; they are grown singly, in many 

 cases from plants raised in pots or boxes under glass. 

 Moreover, the principal cultivators for exhibition disbud 

 the plants severely, restricting them to a maximum of 

 three shoots ; some varieties are restricted to two, others 

 to one. 



The flower-lover who has never seen the effects of dis- 

 budding on Sweet Peas may ask, (i) how it is done ; 

 (2) what a severely disbudded plant looks like. 



The disbudding is done in this way : Sweet Peas 

 grown singly throw up shoots below the first seed shoot, 

 which we will call the leader. The subsidiary shoots vary 



