1894.] ESSAYS. 17 



the increase. It has passed beyond that period when its fragrance 

 alone was its chief merit, and now the eye is charmed by the wondrous 

 variety of colors brought out by an exhibit that is up to date. And 

 this year is to confirm our most enthusiastic praise of it, for hereto- 

 fore we could have but a few stems of the finest acciuisitions, while 

 this year, at Springfield, I see no reason why we should not have 

 large bouquets of them. I shall plant seed by the hundred that can 

 only be bought, and doubtful stuff at that, for five cents a seed. 

 After burying a good many five-dollar bills in that way we get a 

 premium of four or six dollars, if we are lucky. But the Sweet Pea 

 has won its place, thanks largely to Mr. Eckford, and having won its 

 place the promise of what it is to be is well nigh unbounded. I have 

 no doubt there is many a modest little flower waiting tearfully in the 

 back-ground for somebody to find out its wondrous possibilities. 

 And I am sure we are every one of us so magnanimous in our love of 

 flowers that we will welcome the humblest of God's beautiful crea- 

 tions, whether a wild flower, or an old forgotten favorite, to the 

 noblest place the specialist can make it worthy of. 



Now this year will, I think, prove that the Sweet Pea no longer 

 needs a special pleader. Any one who has seen the colors of this 

 flower in massed bouquets, the shades of rose and scarlet and pink, 

 the blues and purples and browns, the glistening white, and the deep 

 velvety maroon, the ever popular pink and white, and now all these 

 set off by such new acquisitions of color as we have in the Orange 

 Prince, the Primrose Tellow, the delicate lavender of Countess of 

 Radnor, the salmon buff of Venus, 80 such bouquets no longer leave 

 us to dispute whether the time has come for Sweet Pea shows. 

 Yes, and the time has come to set up standards of excellence for this 

 flower, and to treat it with something more than a little gush of femi- 

 nine ecstasy. There is no flower that can be classified with more 

 scientific accuracy, none that comes truer to our calculation, and none 

 that promises greater things. 



Let me speak now in the plainest and most practical way of the 

 rules for growing Sweet Peas. I will first point out such rules as 

 there can be no dispute about, and then try to give the reasons why 

 many people fail, even when trying to follow those rules. 



1. Sunlight we must have for Sweet Peas, and this is far more 

 important than the nature of the soil. And a sunny location has also 

 the advantage of thawing the ground out earl}^ so that the planting 

 may be done in good season. And the rows should be planned so 

 that the morning sun will strike one side, aud the afternoon sun the 



