174 GAKDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD. 



bed with the back of the spade or hoe. The varieties of 

 Pansy are very numerous. I think my young friends will 

 do well, at first, to sow only the choicest and best seed of 

 mixed varieties. They may obtain plants of some of the 

 newer varieties from the professional florists. 



SWEET-PEAS. 



The Sweet-pea, one of the most fragrant and beautiful 

 of flowers, is grown precisely like other peas; it is exceed- 

 ingly hardy, and grows well in a great variety of soils. 

 To have Sweet Peas in perfection, however, three things 

 are essential; rich land, early sowing, and the cleanest 

 and best of culture. Perhaps it may be well to say in 

 addition, that the plants should have plenty of room be- 

 tween the rows, say not less than three feet, and at the 

 same time it is desirable to sow the peas quite thickly in 

 the row. "When thus sown, the peas come up earlier and 

 better, and check the growth of the small weeds in the 

 row; if you have only one row, be sure to have plenty of 

 room on each side of the row for the use of the hoe or 

 cultivator. I have seen Sweet-peas sown along a fence, 

 but never knew them to do really well, because the plants 

 were so close to the fence that they could not be hoed on 

 both sides of the row. The peas must be provided with 

 sticks or strings, or a trellis to cling to. I said "must 

 be," because this is the neatest and best way, and not 

 because the supports are absolutely necessary. In rais- 

 ing Sweet-peas in large quantities for seed, we do not 

 stick them, but sow them in rows two and a half feet 

 apart, precisely as we do common peas when growing 

 them for market. If the ground is very rich and clean, 

 and the soil well cultivated between the rows, you will 

 have a finer growth and a mass of the sweetest and most 

 beautiful flowers. 



The land for Sweet-peas should be dug and heavily 



