

JtiJr 2, 1014. 



^Tlie Fiotists' Review 



u 



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people, prificipally in America, should 

 be reminded that "even Burbank in all 

 his glory has not arrayed one of these. ' ' 

 I often wonder whether Cupani, the 

 ^onk, ever had a vision of the future 

 of the insignificant little flower be first 

 sent to England over 200 years ago. 



A Look Into the Future. 



What has the future in store for those 

 endeavoring after new varieties! To 

 my mind it will bring forth things which 

 have never been dreamt of. Already 

 we have had a glimpse of what is com- 

 ing by the new true double flowers. 

 These are quite different from the du- 

 plex type. I notice that Dobbie & Co., 

 the Scotch specialists, have already ex- 

 hibited one of these which caused much 

 comment. I have these in various 

 shades and colorings, coming along in 

 the ijforkshop of 0. C. Morse & Co, They 

 are most wonderful flowers and will 

 rival the most expensive orchid, per- 

 haps not only in beauty but in price, 

 as the seeding quaKties are extremely 

 light. 



Then in the early flowering section 

 I look for good fixed Spencer flowers in 

 colors suitable for florists and with the 

 desirable qualities of the early flower- 

 ing varieties of the past. There is yet 

 much room for improvement in this 

 section and an idea of what is to come 

 can be had from the Australian variety, 

 Yartrawa Spencer. 



In Cupids I look for an improvement 

 in the form of Spencers having the 

 Cupid growth and the long stems, the 

 large flowers and the colorings of the 

 Spfeneer varieties. 



One improvement which all seed 

 growers will welcome will be the heavy 

 seeding qualities of the grandiflora 

 added to the laCtlrticttOTJS Of the SpeYieer 

 varieties. 



On reviewing the present colors of 

 sWeet peas, we fi*d room for additions 

 sH<A as the muoir -sought after yellow, 

 a hettef blue in clear and dark shades, 

 a better seaiiet and new combinations 

 in bieol<Sf9. 



Improvtfmeiits in Culture. 



Perhaps one of the most remarkable 

 changes in sweet pea matters has been 

 in the cuftural methods. In years past 

 the atnateor dug his garden in the 

 usual way, which was often poor enough, 

 and then nmde a little drill with his hoe 

 in which the pews were sown as thickly 

 as possible. There were many ways 

 resorted to in training them' or support- 

 ing them. 



Only a few k«en growers ever thought 

 of manuring or feeding the plants, and 

 tMe result was a fine, thick hedge of 

 inedium height. A great contrast to 

 tniat is the culture of the keen growers 

 ti»day. Growers have learned that 

 tiabk planting was unnecessary; possi- 

 b^ they were helped to realize that by 

 tlgp price of seed. Then disbudding has 

 been resorted to and the system of 

 growing on single stems, thereby pro- 

 ducing enormous flowers. It is nothing 

 unusual to find growers spading the 

 ^Tound two or three feet deep, incorpo- 

 rating manures with great care and 

 knowledge. The plants are fed with 

 manures during the flowering period and 

 many are shaded from the sun 's rays to 

 preserve the color. The-sWeet pea plant 

 is watched with anxious eyes from its 

 first appearance above ground until the 

 final blossom is cut. 



Troubles to Be Overcome. 



The world of science has found much 



. IBwit Piha Manlrl rW<MtVw-^Sateet RMa^Jay-JftiT frhllng^ 

 fBfcrry Ttirnet, lftt>ig«rolt ftfe Show. "On the Side" and tn th« Oiaas.) 



of ititerest in 4h« -sweet pea. Mendel 

 used it as a sutTject when trying out 

 his theory which has done so mnch for 

 hybridiswrs of sweet peas. The results 

 he obtained and which Imve bee* ob- 

 tained since his time have done much 

 toward the continued popularity of the 

 sweet pea. In the years following the 

 introduction of Spencer sweet peas, un- 

 fixed stocks threatened to disgust the 

 grower, but science and Mendelism 

 showed raisers the error of their wa^s, 

 and unfixed novelties are now almost a 

 thing of the past. With the increased 

 cultivation of sweet peas, came some 

 sweet pea troubles, and while the more 

 serious have yet to be conquered, we 

 find extensive investigations being car- 

 ried out in England and in America. 

 We look for scientists to give us a 

 cure and preventive for the streak dis- 

 ease and for the aphis or green fly, 

 which is doing so much destruction to 

 sweet pea crops in California. 



We urge all interested in these mat- 

 ters to use their abilities to give us 

 remedies for these two serious troubles. 

 Nothing will be more w^elcome in the 

 near future than the news that our sci- 

 entific men have mastered these two 

 gigantic difficulties. 



The Sweet Pea and the Seedsman. 



The sweet pea has also been a most 

 important item with seedsmen the 

 world over. In the past comparatively 

 little attention was given to it and 

 sweet peas were found catalogued in a 

 more or less ordinary way. Henry Eck- 

 ford's was the first large house to boom 

 the sweet pea. With the advent of the 



Spencer varieties, great possibiHtiesi 

 were presented, but only in England 

 were they fully realized. Many seed 

 houses came into being purely on the 

 strength of the sweet pea, aUt! Most of 

 these have been successful. In America 

 the houses of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. 

 and C. C. Morse & Co. were the first to 

 boom the sweet pea, and to these houses 

 must belong the credit of starting the 

 sweet pea boom in America. 



At the present day we find more 

 notice being taken by seedsmen of the 

 sweet pea, and in many catalogues the 

 space devoted to sweet peas has been 

 doubled and trebled and the illustra- 

 tions much improved. In this respect 

 the English catalogues Are as yet much 

 better than American catalogues and 

 the future ought to be brighter for 

 American seedsmen if they will boost 

 the sweet pea as our English friends 

 have done. The American seedsmen 

 can do much to popularize the sweet 

 pea. It calls for a little extra work 

 on the catalogue and a little more at- 

 tention to varieties listed. The public 

 have to be educated and they can 

 largely be educated through the seeds- 

 men's catalogues and advertisements. 

 They have to be educated up to Spencer 

 sweet peas. They have to learn that 

 twenty-five seeds of a true Spencer va- 

 riety are much better and more valua- 

 ble than fifty seeds half of which are 

 grandifloras. 



Popularizing the Sweet Pea. 



If the seedsman will prove to them, 

 by giving them truR Spencers, the su- 

 periority of Spencers over grandifloras, 



