1894.] ESSAYS. 21 



course tliey germinate at a low temperature and you need have no 

 fear of frosts. But it isn't impatience that plants early. This vine, 

 with the culture it ought to have, is a tall-growing pea vine. Its 

 habit of growth may become a vice, and it may all go to vine. You 

 want blossoms. I can only explain it in this way. With the rich 

 feeding we ought to give it, the only way to save it from becoming 

 a vicious weed, is to steady it down by slow growth at first. This 

 may be all moonshine, bat I think not. Your seed should be in early 

 and slowly starting. They should be up before the first of May, and 

 grow very slowly for a mouth. People get impatient, but that slow 

 start is a virtue, and they should not be fussed over. Perhaps they 

 are six inches or a foot high the first of June. Pretty soon after that 

 tliey are going to make up lost time, and if they have had this steady- 

 ing down, you'll see the first buds about June 20th, and that one first 

 bud then is a cheering sign on Sweet Peas. It means they are not 

 going to rush by the blooming point and leave you disappointed. It 

 looks to me as if the cause of rank vines and no blossoms is a quick 

 germination and rapid start and fast feeding under conditions that do 

 not steady it down. Early planting is a simple rule, and a very sure 

 one. Indei'd, if one waits till the frosts are by before planting Sweet 

 Peas, they will make but little growth, until the cooler days of autumn 

 come, when it may be they will start in and blossom to some extent. 



6. Notice the rule of deep planting. Mr. Eckford's rule is to 

 plant three inches deep, leaving the ground a little hollow and mulch- 

 ing them in summer. I do not care to set any rule for this country. 

 I plant five inches deep, and what I mean by that is, I fill my trench, 

 as I have suggested, to within four inches of the top, and sow my 

 seed one inch deep in that, and after they get a few inches high I fill 

 in the rest of the top soil. 



7. Let me suggest, if you have never had good success, that you 

 try another plan, and, instead of sowing your seed directly in the 

 trench, you sow them in some sheltered place, and after they are an 

 inch or two high transplant them into your permanent row. In any 

 case always have enough seed to sow an extra lot for this purpose, to 

 fill in the missing spaces by transplanting. I transplant a great 

 many, and always have a little extra side row of each variety. 



8. In the case of the expensive, imported Eckford's I dare not 

 trust a single seed directly in the cold spring soil. These I sow in 

 boxes or pots in a moderately warm room, and always transplant. I 

 am asked why this expensive Eckford seed is so poor the first year. 

 I do not think there is any dishonest trick about it. Last year I had 



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