Gardening for Amateurs 



535 



plants will continue 

 to bloom until 

 October. 



Chipping or Im- 

 mersing Seeds. 

 Owing to the outer 

 skin of some varieties 

 being harder than 

 others, many growers 

 recommend that all 

 dark - coloured seeds 

 be chipped with a 

 sharp knife ; this 

 practice ensures more 

 speedy germination, 

 but care must be 

 taken to make the 

 incision as far away 

 from the eye or grow- 

 ing point of the seed 

 as possible. Alterna- 

 tively the dark seeds 

 may be immersed in 

 tepid water for several 

 hours previous to sow- 

 ing. Too much mois- 

 ture is fatal to success 

 with seeds of the 

 white and lavender 

 varieties, so the soil 

 for these should be 

 kept rather dry until 

 the seedlings are well 

 through; many 

 growers sow seeds of 

 these kinds in a com- 

 post formed almost 

 wholly of sand. 



Planting Out from 

 Pots. Owing to the 

 variability of our 

 climate it is impos- 

 sible to fix upon any 

 precise date for plant- 

 ing out Sweet Peas 

 raised in pots or 

 boxes in spring; 

 something also de- 

 pends upon the con- 

 dition of the plants. 

 GeneraUy, however, 

 the end of March or 

 early April is a good 



Circular Sweet Pea sup- 

 port of wood and wire 

 netting. 



Square support of stakes 

 and wire netting. 



Support made of wooden frame covered 

 with galvanised wire netting (Fig. 1). 

 The frames are fixed in the ground in 

 the form desired, Fig. 2 being a four- 

 sided support, Fig. 3 a three-sided sup- 

 port, and Fig. 4 a six-sided support for 

 a large clump. An arch over a path or 

 walk may also be easily formed (Fig. 5). 



