58 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to go over, they have a grand chance to find advance marks in 

 size and quality and variations of color. The American novel- 

 ties of next year will show real merit, for they are the first that 

 they have obtained from hybridizing. Mr. Eckford's stock is 

 now in a highly hybridized condition, and as they plant a large 

 number of his packets they frequently break into new things, and 

 by crossing his finest sorts they break up and show many of 

 the grand advance novelties that Mr. Eckford has been holding 

 back. 



I shall be expected to refer to rules for the culture of this 

 flower. Those who failed last year had plenty of good company. 

 Only one of our Springfield enthusiasts succeeded Avell. Nothing 

 comforted me more than to hear from Mr. J. F. C. Hyde that he 

 too had joined the ranks of the unfortunate ones. The causes of 

 failure prevailed from one end of the country to the other. 

 Every exhibit Avas made at a great disadvantage. I bent all my 

 energy to escaping the blight, and succeeded beautifully in that, 

 only to see my vines go up, up, up, ten feet, blossoming in a 

 scattering way after they were five feet high. There were two 

 main causes; the first was that we had no freeze or frost to 

 check a rapid start, and this was followed by excess of rain 

 through the growing season. One of the worst vices of the 

 Sweet Pea is an occasional tendency "to rank vine and no 

 bloom, and last year we bad exactly the conditions to produce 

 that. The high culture we give them nowadays necessitates 

 a slow germination and a holding-back by frost, to steady 

 them down to moderation in making vine. I have been 

 preaching to our people some about the principle of making 

 a plant work, in order to increase bloom. The root is the part 

 of the plant that works, and the stiffer or firmer the soil the 

 more wholesome exercise the root gets. A vine like the Sweet 

 Pea should not have a soft bed underneath it. It induces a less 

 hardy growth of the plant. It indulges tlie root and Aveakens it 

 for its after work. It faA^ors a top growth beyond the poAver of 

 the root to support it. It stimulates groAvth at the expense of 

 bloom. We have been following the trench system, Avhich means 

 that people have dug doAvn and filled in with loose soil and 

 fertilizer, and the very looseness of this bed under our seed and 

 vines has been enou.gh to make mischief. It should be trodden 

 down. We have weakened the plants by this soft treatment, and 



