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Jolt 20, 1916. 



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Klft, Bobert, Philadelphia, Pa. 

 Knlffht, Thomas, New \ork, N. T. 

 McFarlane, James, Durham, N. H. 

 McKenzle, Donald, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 

 Melvln, George, rramlngham, Mass. 

 Methven, James, EeadvlUe, Mass. 

 Miller, J. li., and wife. West Lynn, Mass. 

 Miller, Peter M., and wife. Boston. Mass. 



The Florists' Review 



Miller, William, Bastin's Island, Me. 

 Murray, Frank, Boston, Mass. 

 Nicholson, William, Framlngham, Mass. 

 Pegler, Thomas, Brunswick, Me. 

 Reed, A. A., and wife, Whitman, Mass. 

 Rogers, A. K., Keadvllle, Mass. 

 Roy, D. F., and wife, Marion, Mass. 

 Russell. John L., Boston, Mass. 



11 



Rust, Mrs. W. C, Jamaica Plain, Masa. 



Sherwood, V. T., Charlestown, N. H. 



Sim, William, and wife. Cliftondale, Mass. 



Sperling, W. A., New York, N. Y. 



Stewart, W. J., Boston, Mass. 



Totty, C. H., Madison, N. J. 



Weston, H., and wife. New York, N. Y. 



Wilson. E. H.. Jamaica Plain. Mass. 



SWEET PEA'S GOLDENQFUTURE 



By DAVID BURPEE. 



I "WAS not consulted in the selection 

 of the subject, but had the selection 

 been left entirely to me I must confess 

 I could not have chosen a more agree- 

 able one. I might have changed the 

 title, however, to read ' ' The Golden Fu- 

 ture of the Sweet Pea and the Impossi- 

 bility of Securing a Pure Yellow Va- 

 riety. ' ' 



It is impossible to secure a pure yel- 

 low variety so far as any accomplish- 

 ment is impossible until it has been ac- 

 complished. We all of us must neces- 

 sarily judge by what has gone before. 

 So, as a foundation for my prophecy of 

 the future, I shall first give a brief out- 

 line of the past progress of the sweet 

 pea. 



In 1699 the first seed was sent from 

 Sicily to England and there, during the 

 following 200 years, the sweet pea went 

 through a slow stage of change and de- 

 velopment. The early improvements 

 were entirely in color variation. From 

 the original Lathyrus odoratus there 

 developed numerous varieties, but all 

 of these differed only in color. These 

 new colors were secured by mutation, 

 and then by cross-fertilization and a 

 blind selection of the following gen- 

 erations. This selection of the gen- 

 erations following a cross was blind be- 

 cause the principles of heredity were 

 not well understood until the rediscov- 

 ery of the Mendelian laws in 1900. 



Later nature developed a variety of 

 Lathyrus odoratus that differed in 

 form. This mutation was carefully saved 

 and crossed back upon the older type, 

 until nearly all colors were gotten in 

 the hooded varieties, as well as in the 

 plain grandiflora type. 



The Mutation That Gave Spencer. 



After that progress was compara- 

 tively slow, until nature again made a 

 distinct mutation in the form of the 

 sweet pea. The Spencer type appeared 

 almost simultaneously in three places 

 and entirely unaided by man. Then, in 

 like manner, the different shades of 

 colors were secured in the waved type 

 by color mutation, crosses and selec- 

 tions. 



The sweet pea now has reached the 

 point where it is the most popular an- 

 nual, and each year its popularity con- 

 tinues to grow. The early-flowering 

 Spencer type that just now is coming 

 into prominence undoubtedly will do 

 much to widen the field of the sweet 

 pea. 



Your vice-president, George W. Kerr, 

 has done a great deal toward the im- 



A paper read by David Burpee, of Philadelphia, 

 entitled "The Future of the Sweet Pea and the 

 Possibilities of Securing a I'ure Yellow Va- 

 riety," read before the American Sweet Pea 

 Society at the meeting at Bar Harbor, Me., 

 July 16. 



provement of the early-flowering varie- 

 ties. For seven years he has worked at 

 our Fordhook Farms, until now he has 

 in, process of development upwards of 

 twenty distinct colors. All of these 

 were secured by crossing the thrifty 

 Australian varieties on the older late- 

 flowering Spencers. From both of the 

 parents they have inherited the hardy 

 habit of growth — the stamina to stand 

 even under a hot sun, and to thrive in 

 the open as well as under glass. 



The Sotirces of a Pure Yellow. 



Because of their earliness and strong 

 growth, these new Spencers are rapidly 

 becoming popular throughout the south- 

 ern states and in some localities I be- 

 lieve they will completely replace the 

 late-flowering varieties. 



I believe all of you will agree with 



David Burpee. 



me that the sweet pea has a bright fu- 

 ture and that it will continue to de- 

 velop and to grow in popularity. Yes, 

 the future of the sweet pea is indeed 

 golden! 



The possibility of securing a pure yel- 

 low variety, however, is a more diffi- 

 cult subject. I can merely tell you the 

 means through which a yellow variety 

 will come should it ever be secured. 



In the past the improvement of sweet 

 peas— as, in fact, of all other plant life 

 — has been through only three channels, 

 namely, mutation, cross-fertilization and 

 continued selection of small fluctuating 

 variations. Permanent improvement, 

 through fluctuating variations has been 



practically negligible. Through cross- 

 fertilization, however, there have been 

 obtained by far the greatest number of 

 color variations. But crossing the sweet 

 pea was possible only after nature had 

 given us the first mutant, for in the be- 

 ginning, of course, there was but one 

 color and a cross would have been im- 

 possible. It is to the mutations of na- 

 ture, therefore, that we must turn to 

 find a fundamental change in a new di- 

 rection. In other words, by cross-fer- 

 tilization we can secure only a combina- 

 tion of the characters which already 

 exist. 



An Attempt by Hybridization. 



Yellow is a primary color and cannot 

 be gotten by the combination of any 

 other colors. It seems unlikely, there- 

 fors, that we can ever secure a pure 

 yellow variety of sweet pea by the 

 crossing of existing colors. It may be 

 possible, of course, that some day we 

 will find a yellow as a mutation or a 

 "sport of nature," but this is entirely 

 a matter of chance and beyond the con- 

 trol of man. 



There remains one other way,. hybridi- 

 zation, by which we might possibly get 

 a pure yellow sweet pea. 



In the past the crossing of sweet peas 

 has been entirely within the species of 

 Lathyrus odoratus. In all there are 

 more than 100 species of lathyrus and 

 several of these bear flowers of a pure 

 yellow color. The apparent question, 

 then, is: Can we make a cross between 

 the sweet pea and any other lathyrus, 

 and with this as an entering wedge 

 finally get the yellow color of another 

 species on to Lathyrus odoratus? 



This possibility naturally occurred to 

 me shortly after I started to work with 

 sweet peas, and in my enthusiasm I 

 tried to cross every legume that came 

 within my reach. In one case I even 

 attempted a cross between a sweet pea 

 and the yellow broom. Needless to say, 

 it failed — all my attempted crosses be- 

 tween species failed. 



My failure had a sort of stimulating 

 effect — made me look deeper, made me 

 investigate to see what others had done. 

 And I really felt quite relieved to find 

 that no one else had been more success- 

 ful than myself. I was unable to find 

 anyone who had secured a hybrid be- 

 tween any two species of lathyrus. 



An Auspicious Start. 



Three years ago my father and I vis- 

 ited Mr. Bateson, of the John Innis 

 Horticultural Institute, at Wimbledon, 

 England, and he told me that he had 

 worked with ten or fifteen species of 

 lathyrus, but had been unsuccessful in 

 securing a hybrid, and, further, that he 

 did not know of a cross ever having 



