2J2 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



take up little room till February and 

 as they grow the light is growing 

 stronger every day. They certainly do 

 impair the growth of one or two car- 

 nation plants, but you will get ten 

 times the money from these sweet 

 peas that you would from the plant or 

 two of carnations. Two or three 



rows. It will help keep the ground moist 

 and be of the greatest benefit when 

 you water. Unless we get a rainy sea- 

 son you must water. Give the ground 

 not only close to the plants but all the 

 surface a thorough soaking twice a 

 week if you want your crop to last. An- 

 other important thing to observe is to 



days is of great importance in the 

 sweet pea market in spring. 



Within a few years the varieties of 

 sweet peas have become very numer- 

 ous, and. many of them of great beauty. 

 Mr. Eckford has been largely instru- 

 mental in this. Mr. Eckford first be- 

 came an enthusiast on the verbena 

 and later turned his attention to sweet 

 peas. Mr. E. has probably never heard 

 of the writer, but when I was 10 years 

 old I knew him, when he first went 

 to be head gardener to Dr. Martin, of 

 Purbrook, Hants, England. Dr. Mar- 

 tin was one of the pioneers of dentist- 

 ry, who charged $10 to look in your 

 mouth, $10 more to pull a tooth, and 

 $50 more for a new one. But as he 

 spent his leisure time and money in 

 gardening his extravagant charges 

 were most commendable. 



Some of the finest sweet peas are a.s 

 follows: Mrs. J. Chamberlain, white 

 striped rose; Lovely, beautiful pink; 

 America, white striped red; Stanley, 

 deep maroon; Ramona, pale pink; 

 Maid of Honor, white tipped lilac; 

 Golden Gleam, primrose yellow; Mars, 

 bright crimson; Countess of Radnor 

 Improved, fine lavender; Royal Rose, 

 very fine rose; Lady Penzance, orange 

 tinted carmine; Blanche Ferry, extra, 

 white and pink; Blanche Burpee, best 

 v/hite; Catherine Tracy, daybreak 



strings are run up by the side of the 

 post for the peas to climb on, and an 

 occasional tie is needed to keep them 

 within bounds. Two strong plants are 

 plenty at each post, but sow enough 

 seed so that you can thin out. If not 

 convenient to sow the seed on the bed 

 then sow in 3-inch pots and later trans- 

 plant. They do not make much growth 

 in the dark days of winter, and 50 de- 

 grees is about as high as they should 

 be kept in winter. 



For outside they should be the very 

 first thing sown in the spring, the mo- 

 ment the ground is dry enough to plow 

 or spade, or better still, it can be dug 

 up rough in the fall, and will need no 

 digging in the spring. Draw trenches 

 three or four inches broad and the 

 same in depth, three feet apart, sow 

 thinly and cover with an inch of soil. 

 If you think it's going to be 1 dry pour 

 some water on top of the seed before 

 you cover in with earth; it will hasten 

 the growth. At the first hoeing you 

 can let the earth be drawn in a little 

 higher around the stems, but if the 

 trench is somewhat below the level all 

 the better for future waterings. 



The soil for peas out of doors should 

 be deep and rich. There is nothing 

 equal to brush to support them, which 

 should always be placed with a line of 

 it on each side, when the growth is 

 only two or three inches high, not 

 waiting till the peas are up a foot and 

 have fallen over to one side. We 

 don't suffer with drought usually up 

 to flowering time, but a short while be- 

 fore you begin to pick you should 

 spread 2 or 3 inches of stable litter en- 

 tirely over the ground between the 



Some New York Stores at Christinas. 



pick all the flowers. If they escape 

 you they will quickly go to seed and 

 then your plant gets exhausted. 



Some growers sow in October and by 

 this means I have seen flowers picked 

 ten days earlier than those sown on 

 the same ground in April. You must 

 judge for yourself the best week to 

 sow, according to the weather. You 

 don't want them to make any growth 

 above the ground, just sprouting nar 

 the surface is enough, but sow four 

 inches deep. For this purpose choose 

 a rather high part of your ground 

 where surface water will not lie. Ten 



pink; Little Dorrit, fine pink; Aurora, 

 striped orange and white; Her Majes- 

 ty, rose and carmine; Gray Friar, white 

 clouded with lilac; Emily Henderson, 

 a standard white; King of the Blues, a 

 handsome purplish blue. 



Perhaps many of these fine varieties 

 will soon be superseded. It would be 

 inadvisable to grow too many kinds 

 under glass, and less will do. If limited 

 to five kinds I would say the best for 

 forcing are: Emily Henderson, white; 

 Blanche Ferry, pink and white; Count- 

 ess of Radnor, lavender; Golden Gleam, 

 yellow; Catherine Tracy, light pink. 



