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SWEET PEA FIELDS 



OF CALIFORNIA 



These are the impressimis of the Glen Ellyn sweet pea grower on his 

 first trip to the Pacific coast. Because of his viewpoint, fresh and unfamiliar 

 with that favored section, they will doubtless he of the greater interest to 

 the many florists who have yet to make the trip. 



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NE week is a limited time 

 in which to look over the 

 seed farms of the great 

 state of California, even if 

 one more or less restricts 

 his inspection to sweet 

 peas. A few outstanding 

 observations from the 

 point of view of a cut 

 flower grower may, how- 

 ever, be of interest. 



Practically all growing operations in 

 California are based on irrigation, and 

 the cost of this in some cases is enor- 

 mous. Where the large sources of sup- 

 ply are not available, wells are driven, 

 or water is conducted long distances, 

 in some cases from a river or a lake. 

 Any reasonable cost is paid for water, 

 it is said; in most cases this is, of 

 course, necessarily true. 



Cultivation Assists Irrigation. 



In orchards a furrow is opened on 

 each side of a row of trees, and the wa- 

 ter is turned in. Sometimes iron pipe 

 is used to feed these furrows, but more 

 generally large open ditches convey the 

 water long distances. For crops in rows 

 two or three feet apart, a single ditch is 

 opened between the rows, where the 

 level of the ground permits and the area 

 is limited. Sometimes the entire bed is 

 covered with water, the edges being 

 ridged up to hold it. Heavy applications 



By GEORGE J. BALL. 



are usually made two or three times 

 during the season. The response is such 

 as we enjoy during a wet season, the 

 kind of luxurious growth that is easily 

 admired. 



An important feature of irrigating 

 in California is the thorough cultivation 

 following it. The benefit of the latter 

 is appreciated probably no more than 

 it is with us on this side of the Rockies, 

 but it is practiced most intensively. 

 The greater need — or shall we say the 

 greater cost? — of moisture prompts Cali- 

 fornia growers to give so much atten- 

 tion to this important detail. I shall 

 never forget the impression made by 

 \;ist fields of prunes and other fruit iu 

 tho Santa Clara valley, with the soil as 

 clean and fine as we should prepare it 

 for a seed bed. Several times I was re- 

 minded of the impression our unusually 

 dry summers, with no attempt at irri- 

 gation, made on these western growers. 

 While we usually grow a good outdoor 

 crop under normal conditions, it has oc- 

 curred to me that in the case of our 

 valuable stocks on limited areas more 

 attention should be paid to irrigating 

 them when moisture is needed. There is 

 no reason for allowing carnations to be- 

 come stunted and full of spider, or as- 

 ters to dry up with disease, because 

 lack of moisture docs not give them 



vitality enough to fight it off. We all 

 know the limiting factor in plant 

 growth to be moisture, and while we 

 sometimes have enough of it, more fre- 

 quently we do not. 



Big Seed Farms. 



Another sight I shall not soon forget 

 is the vast acreage of lettuce and other 

 vegetables for seed on the 3,000-acre 

 farm of C. C. Morse & Co., all as weed- 

 less and thoroughly cultivated as it is 

 possible to be. I had always associated 

 the work of roguing with sweet peas, 

 not realizing that all our common gar- 

 den vegetables underwent the same 

 scientific process. It is probably safe to 

 say that the average grower has no con- 

 ception of the expense the responsible 

 seed grower is under in this matter of 

 roguing, or how much the value of his 

 crop depends on it, or how surely the 

 value would depreciate were it not for 

 these high standards constantly kept in 

 mind by the seed grower. Because of 

 the intensive crossing and the conse- 

 quent improvement, the sweet pea is 

 an example of this. At the Morse ranch 

 this work is under the keen eye of 

 Frank Cuthbertson. An extensive acre- 

 age has been tried out this season, at a 

 location closely bordering on the ocean, 

 with most encouraging results so far as 

 jrrcpwth and freedom from aphis are con- 

 cerned. To produce flowers on stems 



Dr. Franklin. Harry F. Buckman. L. D. Waller. Frank Cuthbertson. George J. Ball. F.dgar Bowen. 



Group of Sweet Pea. Experts Snapped by W. Atlee Burpee, Jr., in His Firm's Fields in Lompoc Valley, California. 



