534 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Sowing Sweet Peas in clumps out of doors. 

 A shows the right and B the wrong way. 



Sowing Sweet Peas in pots : the right method 

 is shown at A and the wrong way at B. 



Sweet Pea seed should ~ 



be sown about an Seedlings ready for planting 

 inch deep. out of doors. 



must be grown hardily, and for this 

 reason all protecting material should 

 be removed when the danger from 

 cold is over. 



Those who do not care to adopt 

 outdoor sowings, yet desire flowers 

 in June, should sow seeds in pots 

 early in January, keeping the pots 

 in a slightly heated greenhouse until 

 the seedlings are an inch or so high ; 

 then the best place for them is in a 

 cold frame covered with mats every 

 night during frosty weather, but 

 air should be admitted freely on 

 bright days. Very careful watering, 

 too, is necessary, or many of the 

 seedlings will decay ; if the soil in 

 the pots is stirred with a small 

 pointed stick about once a week 

 stronger plants will result. 



Peas sown in January or autumn 

 are ready for the open garden by 

 the end of March, thorough hardi- 

 ness being assured by having the top 

 of the frame entirely removed for a 

 fortnight previous to planting out, 

 unless severe frost or excessive wet 

 is experienced. Should the growth 

 prove to be exceptionally strong little 

 tendrils may appear some time in 

 advance of planting out, and the 

 support of small twiggy sticks be- 

 comes necessary. 



Even on light soils the earliest 

 outdoor sowing should not be made 

 until the middle of February, on 

 heavy soils at the end of the month, 

 making a second sowing a month or 

 five weeks later. These two sowings 

 usually suffice to ensure plenty of 

 flowers from the first w r eek in July 

 until the end of September. 



In their desire to gather very late 

 flowers, some growers sow at a much 

 later date than that suggested, but 

 the result is very uncertain, for 

 should a dry summer be experienced 

 the number of flowers will not com- 

 pensate for the outlay on seeds. 

 Good flowers late in the season are 

 more likely to follow a sowing made 

 not later than the first week in 

 April, for with good cultivation the 



