.ii i.\ t;. i;ti 1. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



11 



OBSERVATIONS ON SWEET PEAS. 



I A liiiJM I- li.v IMwiii l.oiisd.ilc, nf I !„„■. Cal.. 



li'ilil lit llic iiliiiliiil tiiiK ">f llii' Naliuiml Sweet 



I't'il Sinli'ly of AiiK'lii-.i. .Iiilii' I'll :iiiil .'.it, Htll.l 



VVt» Jin- :ill awjirc tli;it tlic sweet pea, 

 liy its own intrinsic wurtli. has foifjed 

 1() tlie front ami now li'-ads the list 

 ainoiiy aiintiai tloweis, ai<le<l to some 

 extent, of conise, liy its niiineioiis ar- 

 dent admirers. The sweet pea is rarelv 

 out of |dace. and is almost as miicii at 

 home Idoominy in the citv \aid as it 

 is in the more pi-etentioiis gardens of 

 the sulinrliaiiite or on the liroader acre 

 a^re. fartlier aliehl, amoiio the more 

 wealthy. 



The late and )iij;liiy res|i('cted Henry 

 Kckford is escryuhere a(<-orded the 

 honored Title of "Katlier of the Sweet 

 I'ea," having- hy jiai iista ki n^ ;i,i,l well 

 tlirected <>(1drt, in cross feiti li/.inj; ;ind 

 select inj^-, improved it in many of the 

 >ireat essentials, which include si/.e, 

 color and form. Imt it \\;is the .advent 

 of th.-it he.mtifnl v;iiiety, ('oiintess 

 S|)encer. which marked the ;;reatest ad- 

 \;ince in the modern sweet pe;i, .and the 

 tendenc\- to sptirt or \:iry. whii-li this 

 modern tvpe h;is a pretlis|)osit ion to do, 

 is not the least amoni; its interest iii^ 

 (pialit ies. 



The Sportive Tendency. 



Someone li.as said that this sporti\e 

 teiiilency ''is a lilessinj; in ilisynise,'" 

 ;ind I believe it. .Most assuredly it has 

 .addetl zest to the fxrowiiii; of sweet jieas 

 <^enerail\- in recent years, for many en 

 thtisiasts in these d.ays are continually 

 on the lookout for new c(dor shades, 

 new color comhin.at ions and .-in ad<ii 

 tion.al ei;;lith of an iindi to the standard. 

 The tendency of the modern sweet pea 

 to throw sports has caused many eii 

 thuiasts to ol)serve moic clostdy for 

 color ;itnl other variations, ami thus li.as 

 .added materially to tlieir pleasures in 

 sweet jie.a jjrowiny;. 



We hear sometimes the c.'irpiny critic, 

 liewailinj; the f.act that tiiere are too 

 many varieties, .and some liiis'e >;one so 

 far as to take the trouble of ])rep:nin<i 

 lists of too-miK-li'.ali ke varieties, btit we 

 must .alw.ays bear in miii<l tli.at each 

 color sidection fre(piently has (duir.ac- 

 teristics .all its own. which .are often 

 indiienced by different soil or (dim.atic 

 conditions, so tli.at it btdiooves us to try 

 all varieties and hold on to those which 

 .answer our own individual purposes 

 best. l-'lorists everywhere find sweet 

 peas, Iiotli in the winter season .and 

 also when ijrown outdoors in summer, 

 always useful to cut from and never 

 out of pl;ice, and the newer Spencers, 

 with their larger and more wav v stand- 

 ards, lend themselves most yracefnlly 

 to all tlor.al .art. This t v pe also li.as 

 another .advautaj^e for |,^a!■den au<l 

 floral decorations, on .account ot' its fail- 

 ing; to set seed so fretdy as <loes the 

 oldi'r oranditlora types, tlius projonyiny 

 its season for producing llowers. 



Suggestions as to Varieties. 



.Vniony crimsons, nothing in ^ener.al 

 cult i v;it ion is superior to !\ino I'Mvv.ard 

 Spencer, as it lights up so well under 

 the influence of ;irtifici;il ii<;lit at ni<ilit. 

 {•'or a dtdic.ate ]iink. the lu"-t selections 

 of the ori^iii.al ('ouiitess Spencer are 

 still amon^ the most ciioice. I'or ma- 

 roon. Othello .answers the jmrpose well. 

 White Spencer is one of the best in 

 that color. For a cream. I'rimrose Spen 

 cer .at its best is ,at the heail of the 

 list. So far as I have seen, in the lioht 

 lavemier shade, there is nothiiii; better 

 tli.-ni the newer fioreiice \ ii; hi Mii.',-i le. 



W. Atlee 



I I'resldent National > 



Burpee. 



Heet Pea Society. i 



The foreyoinj) list is of course lecoiii 

 meiKled for outdoor yrowinj; in summer 

 time. 



[•"or winter blooming- nii entirely dis 

 tinct tv|M> is made use of, .•imony which 

 m:iy be mentioned: l']arliest White, or 

 llorerice l)eii/,er, ami Mont I'laiic. l-"or 

 <-re;iin. K;irliest Sunlie;iins is ^ooil. 

 ('hristmas Pink and residecfed l-",arliest 

 of .\ll lilanciie 1^'erry .•ii'e (|uite popul:ir 

 .amono the pinks. h'or rosy l;ivender. 

 Mrs. .\lex. W;illace, and for violet piir 

 jde. I.e Martjuis ;ire yrown. The win 

 ter blooming cliiss is not of the Spencer 

 type, but these, I am reliably informed. 

 ;ire on tlie way to arrive ijuite soon. 



The crops of sweet pe;i seecls at this 

 writiiijr are (piite uncertain, especially 



.•it {•''lor;id;ile, where, on ai unt of' 



weather conilitions, |)laiitiMo was from 

 four to six we(d<s l:iter th;in in HHn. 



PROPAGATION OF FICUS. 



I'lease yive lis information .'is to 

 time and manner of the propa<;at i(Mi ot' 

 l''ictis (dastica. S. (I. 



In Slimmer |propaj;;it ioii can be elVect 

 ed bv making; cuts. slaiitin<i ones are 

 best, six to twtdve inches from the 

 to|)S of ;iny of the shoots. The cuts 

 should be two to three iii<-lies lonj; .-irid 

 between eyes. Rub some fine cli;ircoal 

 in the cut and put in a line pointeij 

 stick, like a toothpiciv. to jirevent 

 its closinj,'. Then wrap a handful of 

 sphajiiuim or wood moss arouml the 

 cut. Tie it sectirtdy with raflia or soft 

 twine ;ind keep constMiitlv moist. The 

 tops sholllij be cut otV ami potteil as 

 soon as roots are seen pushin:^ tiirniioh 

 the mo-^s. i'lare in small pots. Tie up 

 the leaves for a tiliie aitd spray I're 



ipieiitly until established. <,frowiri^ 

 them in a close, moist house. Where 

 there .•ire l;ir^;e, bushy jilants at com- 

 mand, this is much the best method of 

 propagation, as if the moss is kei)t 

 moist no I'littin^s should fail to root. 

 Ill winter, .-inv timi' after ('hrist- 

 mas, when a ste;idv. brisk bottom heat 

 is ;it command, top cuttinys can be 

 taken an<l rooteij in .1 |iro|>a>,Mt iiiy; 

 bench, where the bottom he.'it is 7."i to 

 s."i dej;rees. Tie up the le:ives and 

 keep the bed const;ilitly moist. The 

 writer has found ciittinys to root bet 

 ter where some chopped sphagnum ami 

 line cliarco;il were mixe(| with the saml. 

 .\ii(ither method of pro|>;iyat imi is from 

 siM;;le eyes with one le;if. The le;if 

 must be tieil u|i aii<l when |iottec[ 

 ^houbl be staked. This is .•i favorite 

 plan (it' propagation in lieloiiuii. but it 

 takes longer to |iroduce plants and is 

 for that reason little used heri'. A 

 brisk bottiuii heat is. of course, neces- 

 s.iiv with single eve cuttings also. 



('. W. 



CUTTING BACK HYDRANGEAS. 



1 liave a hit of liyd r;i ii;;e;is from '1 

 inch ;ilid ti-iucli pots, which faileil to 

 tbiwer this sprint, .-iiid I h;ive just 

 pi:iiilei| them out. They are ipiite t;ill. 



Ii.'iviii;; ^t I cidse toycthei' until now. 



Should I cut them liacjs. :ind it' so. how 

 much .' i\ ( ). 



•lit titem l:;ick to within six inches 

 of the <,'idiiiid. This work would have 

 been better done a moiitii aLlc. but it' 

 the plants are in ;i position where they 

 can oet scmie vv;iter in dry weatlier. 

 they slioiilil m;ike (piite ^,,(1(1 yiiivvl li^ 

 bel'oie the miibUe ot' (Ictuber. when thev 

 w il! ifipii re Ii t't i lie and pot t iii^. 



