56 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY". 



ground. At every step I could see improvement on all those 

 varieties that have been offered to the trade. And the new and 

 richer colorings extorted exclamations of pleasure. Mr. Eckford's 

 keen eye detected at a distance the flashes of improved color, and 

 his enthusiasm seemed unbounded. Now he says, " I don't get a 

 shilling from all this two acres." Of course not ! This field of 

 seedlings is his treasure house, and must be carried along patiently 

 year after year to make selections from. The new shadings run 

 in all directions. At Wem, on the soil there found, and under 

 the favorable conditions for color and size peculiar to the English 

 climate, the blossoms attain a wonderful perfection. The vines 

 were not remarkably thrift}^, and there did not seem to be the 

 abundant florescence that we have at times on this side the water, 

 but every flower had the aristocratic look, as if some master hand 

 had grown it. Delicate shadings, that will be lost under our 

 extremes of sun and cold, are there developed to the finest degree. 

 It is beautiful to read the language of color under those English 

 conditions. 



Mr. Eckford kept to himself all the secrets of his method of 

 making these beautiful varieties, but the results of his work were 

 abundant all about. In making up a new set of novelties. Mr. 

 Eckford puts in about three or four of the highest grade sorts, 

 and fills out with others not so highly developed. I would not 

 complain if he doubled his price on the best sorts, and kept the 

 others back. 



As fast as he makes a selection for a new set, he plants a row 

 of each for his own stock seed, and tones them up to the best 

 type and then sends that seed to his grower to grow trade stock. 

 We have been disappointed quite frequently in the results we get 

 from the Eckford sealed packets, but the source of the difficulty 

 has doubtless been in the poor growing of the Eckford seed stock 

 after it leaves his hands. Certainly, as I saw the rows at Wem 

 in preparation for seed, the blossoms were in every case of the 

 highest quality, and true to description. The English conditions 

 for growing seed of this flower do not compare with our Cali- 

 fornian conditions. It requires two years of California growing 

 to get back the Eckford quality of the novelties. 



As Mr. Eckford has been the chief factor jn giving us the im- 

 proved Sweet Pea, so California is the second great factor in the 

 growing of this flower. On the invitation of C. C. Morse & Co., 



