APBIL 23, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Sweet Pea Florence Deozer* Grown Under Glass by Wm. Sim. 



straight standard, and the incurved or 

 hooded type. As yet the Spencer type 

 seems to rae a little soft for commercial 

 purposes, but this fault may be remedied 

 in new varieties. The standard, which is 

 "wavy, has not the strength of the com- 

 mon type, and they fold together when 

 they are bunched, in such a way as to 

 make them look small, although the flow- 

 ers are larger than the common type. 

 The common type, although not so large 

 as the Spencer type, is the best for com- 

 mercial purposes;* their stiflf, straight 

 standards do not fold together, and the 

 flowers remain open. The incurved or 

 hooded are the least desirable; their 

 flowers are incurved and look small be- 

 side the ordinary type. They, however, 

 have very long, wiry stems, and some of 

 the best fancy varieties are of this type. 

 They also are very strong growers. 



Hybridization^ 



Most of the varieties, with the excep- 

 tion of the ones sent out first, are the 

 results of crossing the early and late va- 

 rieties together. This is done at the 

 time the two types are in bloom together. 

 Mrs. Charles Totty, Mrs. Alexander Wal- 

 lace, Mrs. George Lewis, Christmas Cap- 

 tain, "W. W. Smalley and a number more 

 are the results of crossing the two types 

 together. Varieties raised by crossing 

 the early type with the same type are 

 usually weak growers. It seems to take 

 the blood of the late varieties to give 

 them constitution. I noticed this the last 

 winter on a batch of recrossed Christ- 

 mas; this was the Christmas crossed on 

 the late flowering Blanche Ferry. There 

 was about fifty per cent of the old type 

 among them, but the early flowering ones 



were much stronger and produced 

 stronger flowers on longer stems than 

 Christmas, and grew three feet higher. 



Strains. 



There are now strains of these peas 

 in England, Germany and Algeria. I 

 am unable to give much information 

 about these, as I have never managed to 

 get any of the seed. I have seen the 

 Algerian strain growing at Mr. Zvola- 

 nek's. They were not in flower then, but 

 in growth and habit they were identical 

 with what we have here. He later sent 

 me some of the flowers. They were of 

 .poor color and variety; in fact, they 

 were certainly ten years behind what we 

 have here now. Flowers of the English 

 strain resembled the Algerian strain and 

 Mr. Zvolanek says they are the same va- 

 rieties or mixture he sold five years ago 

 to the firms who are now selling the seed. 

 It is very hard to hold the stock of any 

 one variety by the raiser, because it is 

 sent to California to be grown along for 

 ■seed, and while there the seed can be car- 

 ried from one place to another. 



Sweet Pea Society. 



What we need here now is an Amer- 

 ican sweet pea society, for at the pres- 

 ent time there is nothing to prevent any 

 one from selling sweet peas under any 

 name he pleases. We have Earliest of 

 All, Christmas Pink and Xmas Pink. 

 These three varieties are the same in 

 every particular. The re-selected Earliest 

 of All is earlier than the others, but the 

 flovyers of all three are identical. There 

 are Mont Blanc and Florence Denzer; 

 these two are identical. There are also 

 Zvolanek 's Watching, Burpee's Earliest 



White and White Bird; these are all 

 identical. We have Flamingo and Christ- 

 mas Eed; these are identical, and Sun- 

 beams and Canary Bird are identical. 



Aside from keeping the names straight, 

 the formation of a society would stimu- 

 late the growing of sweet peas, and no 

 doubt many would go into the improving 

 of them in the way the carnation men 

 have done with the carnation. If a num- 

 ber would get together with this in view, 

 it would be hard to predict what the 

 sweet pea would be ten years from now. 

 Just fancy what an exhibition you could 

 have if a number got together and did 

 as the carnation men have done. The 

 sweet pea is everybody's flower, being 

 within the reach of all. Thus far Mr. 

 Zvolanek seems to be about the only one 

 to improve this class. It was only a few 

 years ago that the first of this type were 

 seen; now he has practically all the col- 

 ors seen in the late varieties. I think 

 great credit is due him for what he has 

 accomplished. Putting aside Christmas 

 Pink, Mont Blanc and Sunbeams, he has 

 raised practically all the other varieties 

 in cultivation now. He is doing for this 

 type of peas what Henry Eckford did 

 for the late flowering section. 



Cultivation. 



To grow the sweet pea to perfection 

 under glass, you must have a greenhouse 

 suitable for the purpose. It should be 

 at least eight feet high on the sides, 

 four and a half feet being glass. Mine 

 are seven feet and I find the side rows 

 strike the glass when the vines are about 

 half grown, thereby giving me half a 

 crop. My center rows are about right; 

 they are twelve to fifteen feet high. The 



