The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Afbil 23, 1908. 



the hardening be as-gradaal as- possible 

 and, if you are placing stock in frames, 

 remember that we get occasional frosts 

 in our northern and eastern states until 

 the end of May in most years, and be 

 sure to protect the sashes with some 

 mats^ boards or other covering on such 

 nights. You will find that many of your 

 bedding p.lants will grow much better in 

 frames than in houses after May 1, so 

 you should take advantage of all spare 

 sashes to accommodate them. 



Avoid coddling dahlias. They are best 

 grown cool and airy. Cannas should now 

 have' made a good , growth and should 

 have' a somewhat cooler house. Do not 

 placQ in frames yet a while. Heliotrope 

 likes: heat, and if you want to see it 

 mak0 a fine growth, try some cuttings, 

 after' potting, in a hotbed, partly plung- 

 ing the pots. No greenhouse provides 

 quite! as good a growing atmosphere for 

 thes^ warmth-loving bedding plants as a 

 well-inade hotbed. 



i COLD STORAGE LILIES. 



How are cold storage Easter lily bulbs 



-foMed^in summer,- beginning as et^rly as 

 Mayt A. 



Cold storage lily bulbs are now procur- 

 able at almost any season. Their sum- 

 mer culture does not greatly differ from 

 that of bulbs potted in the fall for win- 

 ter or spring flowering. Bulbs potted in 

 May can be stood on a cellar floor or in 

 a coldframe, preferably the former. If 

 they can be kept in an even and moder- 

 ately cool temperature for a few wee^s, 

 the bulbs will make more roots than 

 would be the case in a warmer place. The 

 aim should be to get as many roots as 

 possible before growths become ad- 

 v|inced. Cold storage stock always starts 

 to grow; more quickly than bulbs not sub- 

 jected to this method of retarding. 



As soon as the roots are found to be 

 running nicely around the sides of the 

 pots and the young growths show them- 

 selves, stand on a bench in any light 

 house and treat in the regular way. My 

 experience has been that hardly as fine 

 stock is produced from retarded bulbs, 

 but their use makes it possible to have 

 lilies, if we want them, every day in the 

 year. C. W. 



,^»>^^^^- 



SWEET PEAS 



LTNbER GLASS 



^•^'♦^^♦^^^^n.v^?^^^^ '♦^'♦^'♦^W^'^gg 



A Stapk Cut Flower. 



The subject which has been assigned 

 for our consideration tonight is one that 

 would have carried more weight had 

 someone else, more fit than I, been asked, 

 to read this paper. I will, however, db 

 the best I can, and trust you will over- 

 look anything I may say that seems to 

 you improper, as this is the first time 

 I ha^e been called upon to speak before 

 an aadience. I also invite criticism, for 

 no doubt many of you have your own 

 ideas', aiid J hope lyou will let them be 

 known, for only by so doing can we ex- 

 pect r to settle some of the points that 

 may (ariseii • 



The sweet: pea, which is the subject I 

 am going.iTo say a few words on tonight, 

 is on6 of. the Staples in cut flowers, rank- 

 ing i^i thi^te?pect next to the violet. I 

 will Jjot ;i4i&' into the ancient history of 

 the svfeeit^JJEa, but confine my remarks 

 as njadi "^g possible to the winter or 

 early^^iroring section, the advent of 

 whicU^f i thinkj is within the memory of 

 the youn'gest 'member" hCTft". 'It~iS""tttily"'' 

 within the last ten or twelve years that 

 the sweet pea has been placed before the 

 people ia the winter months. By ^ow- 

 ing the old varieties under glass it was 

 only possible to have them, at the most, 

 five months of the year. With the ad- 

 vent of the early flowering section it was 

 made possible to cut flowers all the year. 



The first sweet peas I grew upder 

 glass were, such varieties as Blanche 

 Ferry, Emily Henderson, Katherine 

 Tracy, Countess of Eadnor and Emily 

 Eckford. These are of the late or sum- 

 mer flowering section. These varieties. 



&. paper by William Sim, of Cllftondale. 

 Mass., read before the Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club of Boston, April 21, 1908. 



when sown under glass in August, would 

 not come into bloom until the end of the 

 following April, and seed sown in Jan- 

 uary would flower as early as that sown 

 in August. They have a season of flow- 

 ering and will not flower before that 

 time, no matter when the seed is sown. 

 The early flowering sweet pea is just the 

 opposite in this respect, for in many 

 cases they commence to flower when only 

 a few inches above the soil, and if sown 

 in July they will flower in August. They 

 make a poor growth in summer and do 

 not do so well as the late varieties. In 

 the winter months, however, they make a 

 strong growth, and while making this 

 growth they flower, and I feel safe to 

 say that the flower produced then is far 

 superior to the late flowering varieties. 

 - ^ Origin. 



The origin of the winter flowering 

 sweet pea is something that seems to be 

 a mystery. There are several who claim 

 this distinction. A. C. Zvolanek, of 

 Bound Broek, N. J., is one who claims 

 Aq ba:.thB oiigiuatgic He claims that he 

 made his first experiments twenty-five 

 years ago, but did not succeed until he 

 made a cross with the European vetch. 

 In January, 1892, he found some of the 

 plants producing flowers which were 

 small in size, and the plants only at- 

 tained the height of two feet, but by 

 crossing and recrossing a strain produc- 

 ing large flowers on long stems, and 

 growing six feet in height, was secured. 

 At this time Mr. Zvolanek was not in 

 business for himself, but raised them 

 mainly for pleasure, and gave seed to 

 any of his friends who wanted some. 

 While in the employment of Thomas 

 Young, of New York, in 1895-6, he had 

 two houses of Christmas Pink. If this 

 story is correct, it shows that he must 



have had them about the time he stat 3 

 in order to get seed enough to plant U 

 houses in 1895. This was three yea is 

 before it was put into commerce Iv 

 Burpee. %.^ ' - ; v 



The origin is also claimed by Thorn. 3 

 Gould, of Ventura, Cal. This is the v.i- 

 riety sent out by Burpee as Earliest 1 f 

 AH, in 1898. I think this strain of M:. 

 Gould's was first seen in bloom amon;' 

 plants of Blanche Ferry. In 1898 M '. 

 Zvolanek started with Emil Leuly, of 

 West Hoboken, and had at that time six 

 houses of Christmas Pink and Florence 

 Denzer. Now, there is no difference be- 

 tween this Florence Denzer and Mont 

 Blan£. They are the same in every re- 

 specT, Benary, of Erfurt, Germany, 

 sent out Mont Blanc, I think, in 1902, 

 or four years after Mr. Zvolanek was 

 raising it in Hoboken. No doubt, if Mr. 

 Zvolanek would again cross with the 

 vetch the old varieties, and secure an 

 early flowering strain, his ^aim would 

 be substantiated. He hatT promised to 

 do this. 



Sports. 



Many claim that this strain are habit 

 sports, that they produce flowers iden- 

 tical to the late varieties from which they 

 sported. I do not believe, myself, that 

 they do sport, for I have grown a great 

 many, both inside and outside, and have 

 never had one sport with me. Mr. Zvo- 

 lanek, who has raised practically all the 

 winter flowering varieties, says he has 

 never had one sport with him. Mr. Zvo- 

 lanek raised Christmas Captain as a re- 

 sult of a cross between Captain of the 

 Blues and Christmas Pink. A grower in 

 England claims that Captain of the Blues 

 sported with him from the late to the 

 early type, but I believe this was only 

 a stray seed of Christmas Captain which 

 had in some way gotten among his Cap- 

 tain of the Blues, for he was growing 

 seed of Mr. Zvolanek 's at the time. I 

 think the cause is apparent. It is also 

 possible that if he were growing the two 

 types side by side, cross fertilization 

 may have taken place, and the early 

 flowering one may have been the result. 



It is claimed by some that sweet peas 

 do not mix, but the more I grow of them 

 the more convinced I am that they do 

 mix more or less. There is not one va- 

 riety I grow but what quite frequently 

 exposes its 'pollen and pistil, so in this 

 case what is there' to prevent insects or 

 flies from carrying the pollen? Some 

 claim these are deformed flowers and 

 would not go to seed anyhow, but this 

 is not the ease, for if they are left on 

 the plants they go to seed every time and 

 produce fine seed. I am told this is far 

 more marked on the seed farms in Cali- 

 fornia than in a greenhouse. 



I believe the early sweet pea is the 

 result of a cross between the old type 

 and some other species. I do not believe 

 the late sweet pea can sport from the 

 late to the early flowering, and will only 

 believe so when I have conclusive proof 

 that this is the case. Many growers, on 

 seeing some variety they imagined they 

 sowed, without examination immediately 

 call it a sport. They do not stop to con- 

 sider that there are many ways of that 

 seed getting there. The seedsman and 

 seed grower cannot always prevent the 

 seed getting mixed. 



Types. 



There are three types of the early 

 sweet pea — the wavy or Spencer type; 

 the common type, with the broad, 



.■■^iv' 



