50 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



will be snapped off. The grower who desires to pose as 

 a philosopher will, of course, immediately affirm that he 

 had intended to top the plant in any case, and that he has 

 been saved the trouble ; but the probabilities are that his 

 private views on the point would be somewhat different. 

 The rule should be to place sticks to the seedlings before 

 they attain to the height of 4 inches, and to these pre- 

 liminary sticks the young plants should always be carefully 

 attached with bass or other convenient material. The Sweet 

 Pea is a tendril-producing plant, and in principle these 

 natural supports should be sufficient, but in practice this 

 seldom proves to be the case, and artificial support must be 

 given. For the early sticks the brashy parts may be cut 

 from the tops of the final stakes if desired, or the twigs 

 from an old besom may be requisitioned ; in any case they 

 ought to be about 15 inches in length, so that approxi- 

 mately they may be placed 3 inches deep in the soil and 

 extend 12 inches out of it. The chief point for the amateur 

 to keep in view in this early tying is to make perfectly 

 sure of adequate support without arresting the advancement 

 of the young plant, as will inevitably be done should the 

 ligature be put on too tightly. 



Before the plants reach the tops of the twiggy sticks 

 the permanent ones must be put into position, and these 

 can be of hazel or other convenient natural wood ; or 

 ordinary, large-meshed, galvanised wire, or one of the 



