JUNB 21, 1917. 



i K nocistaF Review 



15 



tiling worth while. Sweet peas are 

 1, anted in the Philadelphia cut flower 

 Market and probably in the markets of 

 Piany other cities from May 15 to 

 , line 15. During that month sweet peas 

 ihat are grown in greenhouses are apt 

 to be poor. The early-flowering vari- 

 . ties started in the greenhouse and 

 ' ransplanted outdoors, or grown in 

 1 oldf rames for the market require- 

 jiients, and the Spencer varieties grown 

 ill the same way, are too late. They 

 ^vill not flower until after June 15, 

 •vhen the market commences to decline. 

 Here, right in front of us, lay what 

 the sweet pea growers of America 

 want, early-blooming Spencer sweet 

 peas. 



Mr. Kerr's Nine Years' Work. 



Mr. Kerr said that when he first came 

 to this country from England nine years 

 ago he had been attracted by the sweet 

 peas in the store windows in winter. 

 He had never seen them at home — 

 often in summer, never in winter. 

 Sweet peas had been his life's work. 

 He commenced then to improve the 

 sweet pea by hybridizing with the 

 object of securing early-blooming win- 

 ter sweet peas that would be the peer 

 of the finest summer-flowering vari- 

 eties. The varieties in the store win- 

 dows then were, of course, of the old 

 grandiflora type. Countess Spencer 

 and the first of her great train of de- 

 scendants had just become generally 

 known and admired. So Mr. Kerr 

 began work with the definite aim of 

 producing a race of Spencer peas that 

 would flower as early as the varieties 

 of the grandiflora type. This has been 

 accomplished after nine years' work. 



The first crosses were madi' with the 

 earliest varieties of the grandiflora 

 ty})e, Burpee's Earliest of All, Burpee's 

 Earliest White, and so on. Then came 

 crosses with the Spencers, by that time 

 an increasingly numerous family. 

 Then Yarrawa appeared. The merits 

 of this sterling variety have made it 

 Mr. Kerr's choice for a pod parent. 

 Chief among Yarrawa 's good qualities 

 is its ability to stand variations of 

 temperature in the greenhouse without 

 showing signs of stress. So on Yar- 

 rawa the pollen of many promising 

 crosses was carefully dusted. An 

 important precept of Mendelism, one 

 which Mr. Kerr has proved correct, -is 

 seed variation in the first year. In- 

 ability to recognize this law has un- 

 doubtedly cost sweet pea hybridizers 

 dearly. I tried to shake Mr. Kerr in 

 his belief on this point, because, being 

 ignorant of it, it seemed to me some- 

 what improbable. Mr. Kerr only be- 

 came more firm. It is absolutely 

 impossible to tell what a sweet pea 

 seedling will be until its second year, 

 was his final statement. Not even half 

 of them retain the same color in their 

 second year they displayed during their 

 first season of blooming. After the 

 second year the type is apt to remain 

 fixed. 



Burpee's Foiirteen Seedlings. 



There were fourteen seedlings in the 

 trial grounds; all were of tried merit. 

 A few have been sent out in a limited 

 way; the remainder are to be sent out 

 next season. They covered a wide 

 range of colors and all showed Spencer 

 blood. Commercially speaking, Ford- 

 hook Pink and White is the most inter- 

 esting, because, in ])lain Englisli, it is 

 an extra early sweet ])ea of Blanche 



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IwHO'SWHOISaSE-ANDWHyI 



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COMIMODOBE JOHN NEWTON CHAMPION. 



T.OHN NEWTON CHAMPION, of New Haven, Conn., faces the terrors of the 

 »-» deep and the deep terrors of a lodge initiation witli equal fortitude. Not only 

 is he commodore of tlie New Haven Yacht Club, but is a member of all the New 

 Haven Masonic bodies, the Odd Fellows, the p]lks, p]agles, Moose, a colonel of the 

 military rank of Knights of Pythias, veteran of tlic famous New Haven Grays and 

 Governor Fort Guards, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Auto Club, Pub- 

 licity Club, Sachem Head Yacht Club, Sons of the American Revolution, Founders 

 and Patriots of America, French Bull Dog Club of America, Western French Bull 

 Dog ('lub and a delegate of the American Kennel Club. Besides, he is a member of 

 the S. A. F. and F. T. D. He is the champion of Champion & Co., florists, and has 

 been in the business for forty years. No man could belong to all tlie organizations 

 the Commodore does and not be a good fellow. 



Ferry coloring and Spencer form and 

 size. Mr. Kerr thouglit tliat three- 

 (juarters of the sweet peas grown com- 

 mercially under glass are of this color. 

 Next in point of interest among these 

 wonderful seedlings is Snowstorm, a 

 pure white sweet pea, as its name so 

 well implies, and one of large size. 

 Already one and one-half acres of 

 Snowstorm are growing at Floradale, 

 although its early history bade fair to 

 end in a tragedy. 



The remaining twelve varieties are 

 all good. They range in color from 

 scarlet and carmine through sunburst 

 shades and lavender and pinks to palest 

 primrose. Their names are so cleverly 

 cliosen as to be descriptive to those 

 familiar with the leading varieties of 

 sweat peas. 



Near the sweet pea trial grounds are 

 a few rows of peas that illustrate one 



of Mr. Kerr's j)oints of culture in fall 

 planting of sweet peas to secure early 

 dowering outdoors. Many of the 

 experts claim that fall planting suc- 

 ceeds about once in tliree times. On 

 tlie other two occasions the seed will 

 rot. Here at Fordliook is Mr. Kerr's 

 answer — a heavy, vigorous, free-flow- 

 ering lot of sweet jieas. He insists tliat 

 liis metliod insures the grower against 

 failure. It is simply this: Sow the 

 seeds, for the latitude of Philadelphia, 

 during October. Protect the rows 

 from December until March with slant- 

 ing boards, running lengthwise, with a 

 pane of glass over the top; then remove 

 the glass and later the boards. Of 

 course, this method is in addition to 

 tlie usual cultural course for securing 

 early outdoor sweet peas. The demon- 

 stration was proof of its efficiencv. 



Phil. 



