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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 6, 1911. 



these have been an expense to the so- 

 "ietv, liu eliaijfe l'i»r adniissiou being 

 made. The only source of income is 

 iruni the active memberships, life mem- 

 l)erships and the j^uarantors wiio have 

 generously come to the front when 

 needed. ^Ve ha\e today lid active mem- 

 bers and twelvi' life members. 



The Exhibitions and Their Results. 



rersonally, F know tliat good results 

 have accrue(l from our e.\hil»itions. Per- 

 hajis tlie Tuost mateii.'il results are from 

 ilie I'.oston exhibition. Tlie winter 

 llo\verin<i sweet i)eas shown by ^Vi]liam 

 Sim, of (Jliftondale, ]\1ass., excited more 

 ihan yeneral interest and admiration, 

 >o much so that several llorists in the 

 \icinity of New York are building 

 lu)uses especially to grow sweet peas 

 ! his ■winter. 



The great difliculty in holding exhi- 

 bitions in liiis count ry is its vastncss. 

 What would lie a good <l!ite in I'liiia- 

 delphia Avould be loo early for Xew 

 York atid a gocnl date tHr \ew York 

 Avould be too early for New Kngland, 

 ind that a|i|dies ;iiso tn 1 lie west; so 

 that the exhibilion really residves itself 

 into a local show, which is a good rea- 

 son for changing the place ot' nu'eting 

 from year to year. Of c(nirse. this yi-ar 

 Jias been excei)tional, owing to weather 

 x.'ondition^. It has been suggested by 

 one of our exhibitors that the date 

 ''hould be set at this meeting and should 

 be either the last week in .luiu' or the 

 Jirst week in duly. This would gi\e 

 growers the oi)portunity to sow their 

 sweet pea seed to conform with these 

 dates. It is much easier fur a grower 

 to hold otf for a week than to force his 

 ])lants into bloom. I trust that the con- 

 vention will seriously consitbr this mat- 

 ter. 



Signs of Progress. 



Our society has hel[)ed to ]ioiiularize 

 the SjU'iicei' \arieties of sweet jieas 



Anton Zvolanek an entirely new race of 

 sweet i)eas, some of which equaled and 

 others even excelled the beauty and 

 type of the Spencers. Mr. Zvolanek de- 

 serves great credit for his work, and I 

 ho|)e tliat in the near future this so- 

 ciety will be able to accord medals to 

 hyi>ridizers and raisers of new varieties. 

 1 understand that W. Atlee Burpee & 

 (.'o., at Fordhook, are also working along 

 these lines and have some promising 

 seedlings. Credit is also due to the 

 gentlemen who have helped to finance 

 our societv. not only from its inception, 

 but also at a time when guaraiitee 

 funds were needed for prizes, etc. 1 

 wish at this time to thank the gener- 

 ous dnnois ot jiri/.es, and your presi- 

 diMit. \V. Atlee liurpee, for liis time and 

 moral supjiort so generously given. 



A Selection of Varieties. 



It' I were asked to name the best 

 Spencer. I'nwin, grandillora and winter 

 tlowering sweet peas today. 1 would 

 gi\c the following list, aiKirt from the 

 \;irieties introiluced this year: 

 Sl'KNCKU VAIUETIi:S. 



.\sl!i Ohii SpcMPor, pure lavender, tinted iiink- 

 i>li ruse, sell' ciiliir. 



.\iii-i.ia .S|)cnciT, oi'ango, rose oi' salmon stripod 

 on while. 



Ap|i|.- lUiissdHi Spcncci', standard In'islit crim- 

 son riiso, winj;s wliitc tinfipd avUIi piidi. 



Captain of lUncs Spencer, bluish puride with 

 distinct margin of lilac. 



Conntc'ss Spencer, llie original Spencer, clear, 

 briulit pii:k. 



Helen Lewis, Standard crimson orange, wings 

 orange rose. 



flora .Morse Speucer, delieate blush with pink 

 margin. 



(ieorgo Iterbert, rose carmine. 



.lolm liii-'nian. rose carniini' witli rose veins. 



King Hdwai-d Spencer, pure, Lriglit red or 

 crimson scarlet. 



Lovely Spencer, standard light blush pink, with 

 bloicli or rose at the base. 



Ml hello Sjiencer. deep velvety maroon. 



Mrs. Koutzaliii Spencer, primrose and butt, 

 Willi margin ami edge of light salmon. 



Mrs. Waller Wright Spencer, rosy puride, self 

 color. 



rrimiose Spencer, pure light iirimro.se yellow. 



While .Spencer, jiure while. 



Drecr's Aquatics at the National Sweet Pea Show. 



among growers, private and commer- 

 cial, and while some of the grandifloras 

 are still popular, they are fast being 

 displaced by the Si>eucer ;ind XInwin 

 ^ypes. 



At Boston ther. u.-ie exhildted by 



1 NWIN VARIETIES. 



Frank Dolby, lavendir and mauve. 



(iladys I'liwin. clear, bright pink, a little 

 deeper at the e<lges, almost self color. 



K. J. Castle, bright rose crimson, with veins 

 of deeper rose. 



-Mrs. Alfred Watkins, bright pink at liase, 

 shailing to blush and butt at edg'-s. 



Nora Uuwin, pure white. 



GRANDIFLORA VARIETIES. 



Bolton's I'luk, orange or salmon pink, Telned 

 with rose. 



Ilurpee's Earliest White, pure white. 



Dorothy Eckford, pure white. 



Edward VII, pure br'ght red or crimson 

 scarlet. 



Extra Early Blanche Ferry, .standard bright 

 crimson rose, wings white tinged with pink. 



Helen Fierce, marbled blue on ivory white. 



Hon. Jlrs. E. Kenyon, clear, light primrose. 



Lady (Jrisel Hamilton, standard light mauve, 

 wings lavender. 



Lord Nelson, standard Indigo and violet, wings 

 indigo. 



Lovely, deep pink, shading to very light pink 

 at edges. 



Miss Willmott, orange pink, with veins of 

 deeper orange rose. 



Mrs. George lligginson, Jr., clear azure blue, 

 the lightest and clearest blue in sweet peas. 



Frluce Olaf, light blue, striped on white. 



t^ueeii AIe.\audra, very bright red, almost a 

 true scarlet. 



WINTER FLOWERING SWEET PEAS. 

 Canary, primrose yellow. 



Christmas Fink, standard rose, wings white. 

 <"luistnias White, pure white. 

 C. H. Totty, sky blue. 

 Flamingo, crimson scarlet. 

 Christmas Captain, blue and purple. 

 I'l(U-en<'e Deiizer. pure white. 

 (Jreenbrook, white, slightly touched with lav- 

 ender. 



Mrs. .\le\- Wallace, lavender. 

 .Mrs. i;. Wild, rose crimson. 

 Mrs. Win. Sim. salmon pink. 

 Mrs. W. W. Smalley, satiny pink. 

 Snowbird, pure white. 

 Wallacea, lavender. 

 Watchung, pure white. 



While experts may ditVi'r with me on 

 my select i(ui, jieople will not go far 

 wrong in jdanting the foregoing varie 

 ties. 



t'ornell l'niversit_\', where, under the 

 care of Professor C^raig and A. C. Beal, 

 the trials of <uir society liave been 

 h(dd, has just issued bulletin No. ',iO\. 

 entitled "Sweet Pea Studies." This 

 has been mailed to all members 

 through the courtesy of the university, 

 under fr;ink without cost to the societv. 

 Thanks .are due for the energy and wot k 

 of the above gentlemen. Jf any mem- 

 ber has not received a copy, 1 wouUl 

 ask them to kindly notify me at once. 



Care in Naming and Disseminating, 



K'eterring to the foregoing selection 

 of sweet peas, I think we are somewhat 

 blessed in this country by not having 

 such ;m interminable (piantity of new 

 varieties jdaced on the market as they 

 h.ave in England every year. Unless it 

 has real merit over existing varieties, ;i 

 new variety has no place in the Amer 

 ictin seed catalogue or in the garden: 

 neither do we have the same conflict of 

 synonymous varieties under different 

 names. Our growers in California, where 

 eighty per cent of the sweet pea seed 

 of the world is grown, are exceptional- 

 ly caiefiil, not only as to the new varie- 

 ties they disseminate, but also as to 

 roguing their stocks; neither do they 

 seiol out new varieties, to their knowl- 

 ei|o(., unless they are thoroughly set. 

 .\nioiig the most distinct breaks of re- 

 cent ye.ars are the varieties Storling 

 Stint and Earl Spencer. In reality these 

 are Henry Eckford Spencers, and this, 

 I believe, would be a better name. Many 

 (■(dors we have today cannot be bet- 

 tered. The colors the hybridizers are 

 aiming for are a real buttercup yellow. 

 the scarlet of the geranium and the blue 

 of the Delphinium liell.adonna. 



Tn the meantime the hybridizers 

 should concentrate their efforts upon 

 th(> improvement of the stock with ref- 

 erence to the size and substance of the 

 flower, number of flowers on a stem, 

 length of the stem and strength and 

 habit of the plant, and should aim to 

 produce an American breed of flowering 

 sweet peas that will stand our hot sum- 

 mers, so that not only in name, but in 

 fact, they will become the poor man's 

 orchid aiid the rival of that flower. 



