FASHIONABLE FLOWERS 



will come in most useful later on when the flower buds 

 show, for the bag can be filled with cow manure or horse 

 manure and immersed in the barrel of water. The brown 

 liquid that results should be diluted with a similar quan- 

 tity of water before it is given to the Peas, and twice a 

 week will be quite often enough. 



The several diseases that attack Sweet Peas are always 

 more prevalent and likely to cause greater disaster in 

 heavily manured soil, so it is as well to be on the safe 

 side, using little manure in the soil and making up the 

 deficiency by the application of liquid fertiliser when the 

 plants are growing freely. When a diseased plant is 

 noticed it should be pulled up and burnt, for there seems 

 to be no remedy. But one may take preventive measures 

 by burning all the haulm, liming the soil in autumn, and 

 growing the Peas in a fresh piece of ground for the next 

 year or two. 



Everyone, of course, realises that a prolonged display 

 of blossom can only be obtained from healthy plants 

 and when the dead flowers are cut off as they fade, so 

 that no seed-pods form. 



Two safe fertilisers for use in the home garden are 

 basic slag, dug in in autumn (6 ounces to the square 

 yard), and in spring, before the Peas are sown or planted 

 out, a scattering of bone-meal some 10 inches or 12 inches 

 below the surface. 



It is pretty well a hopeless task to attempt to give a 

 short list of the best varieties of Sweet Peas, for each year 



'57 



