JuLT 27, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



13 



Exhibition of the National Sweet Pea Society, London, England, July 11 and 12, 1911. 



They look much better and are more 

 easily cared for than when run cross- 

 ways. 



Excellent winter varieties are: 

 White, Watchung, Christmas White, 

 Mont Blanc; pink shades', Christmas 

 pink, the earliest of its color, Mrs, Wm. 

 Sim, Mrs. W. W. Smalley; scarlet, 

 Flamingo. C. W. 



SWEET PEAS IN NOVEMBER. 



Will you tell me what time to plant 

 sweet peas inside so as to have them 

 in bloom for the middle of November? 

 What kind is the best? I live in the 

 central part of Kansas. J. A. G.- 



In your latitude the seed should be 

 sown about the middle of August. 

 You can sow the seed in drills, thin- 

 ning out the plants till they are four 

 inches apart, or you can start them in 

 flats of sand and transplant them. 

 Good winter-flowering varieties are: 

 Christmas White or Florence Denzer, 

 pure white; Christmas Pink; Wallacea, 

 lavender; Mrs. W. W, Smalley, satin 

 pink; Mrs. William Sim, salmon pink. 

 C. W. 



SWEET PEA SHOW IN LONDON. 



It was the#eleventh annual exhibition 

 of the National Sweet Pea Society of 

 Great Britain that was held at London, 

 England, July 11 and 12, and visited 

 by thousands on each day. Among the 

 number were Mr. and Mrs, W. Atlee 

 Burpee and two sons, from Philadelphia, 

 Mr. Burpee accepted an invitation to 

 officiate as one of the judges, and his 

 son, David, was enrolled a member of 

 the society and acted as one of the 

 stewards. The forty-four classes in the 

 schedule brought out 150 competitors, 

 with 820 exhibits, a total of 2,500 

 vases, independent of collections, table 

 decorations and non-competitive trade 

 exhibits. The finest trade exhibit in 

 the show was put up by Robert Bolton, 

 Carnforth, who staged remarkably 



large, fresh flowers, including several 

 of his own novelties of great merit, 

 notably Afterglow, a rosy mauve bi- 

 color; large gold medal awarded. Gold 

 medals were awarded to Dobbie & Co., 

 Edinburgh; Eobert Sydenham, Birming- 

 ham, and J. Carter & Co, London. Sil- 

 ver gilt medals were awarded to Sutton 

 & Sons, Reading; W. Deal, Kelvedon; 

 S. Bide & Son, Farnham, and J, Box, 

 Windfield, 



The floral committee had numerous 

 calls on their ability and discretion, 

 judging the new varieties in the soci- 

 ety's trials, and made awards to 

 Thomas Stevenson, from Dobbie & Co., 

 a brilliant orange scarlet, F. C. C. ; Bar- 

 bara, a good form of the Earl Spencer 

 type, from Robert Holmes, Norwich, F. 

 C. C; May Campbell, from Dobbie & 

 Co., cream ground watered and veined 

 carmine, A. M.; Mauve Queen, from 

 Dobbie & Co., A. M.; Red Star, from A. 

 Malcolm, deep crimson scarlet, A. M.; 

 Mrs. B. Gilbert, from Gilbert & Son, 

 Bourne, white, with faint violet mark- 

 ings, A. M.; F. Seymour Davis, from 

 F. Seymour Davis, pale rosy lilac, A. M. 

 Other good varieties of recent intro- 

 duction on view were Melba and Lady 

 Knox, from Dobbie & Co.; Queen Mary, 

 from E. W. King & Co.; King Mansel, 

 from Q. Stark & Son, etc. 



There were five competitors for the 

 Burpee cup for display of sweet peas 

 on a space 3x8 feet, and the winner 

 was C. W. Breadmore, Winchester, with 

 fine vases of Mrs. C. W. Breadmore, 

 Maud Holmes, George Herbert, Prin- 

 cess May, Paradise Ivory, Dazzler, 

 American Spencer, Flora Norton Spen- 

 cer, Audrey Crier, etc. J. Box, Wind- 

 field, second. 



There was a notable gathering of the 

 elite of the sweet pea world in the 

 evening, with Robert Sydenham in the 

 chair. Representatives sat around the 

 festive board from America, South 

 Africa, Australia, New Zealand and 



France. The after-dinner speeches, for 

 brilliancy, good humor and wit, were 

 never equaled in the annals of the soci- 

 ety. The toast of "Our Guests" was 

 replied to by Mens. Schaettel, of Vil- 

 morin's, Paris; T. Patterson, Mel- 

 bourne, Australia, and W. Atlee Bur- 

 pee, Philadelphia, who surpassed all 

 his previous gems of oratory spoken in 

 our midst. Others who took part in 

 adding to the pleasantries of the pro- 

 eeedings included W. Cuthbertson, of 

 Dobbie & Co.; Hugh Dickson, of Alex. 

 Dickson & Son; S. B. Dicks, of Cooper, 

 Taber & Co.; W. P. Wright, J. S. Brun- 

 ton, and the society's indefatigable 

 secretary, C. H. Curtis. 



About 120 members inspected the 260 

 trials of sweet peas conducted by the 

 society at the Times Experimental Sta- 

 tion, July 13. The heat wave and pre- 

 vious dry weather had robbed the 

 flowers of much of their size and true 

 colors, but it was obvious that the 

 purity of stock was better than in pre- 

 vious years. Lady Northcliffe, presi- 

 dent of the society, presided at and 

 entertained the company at lunch. She 

 was supported by W. Atlee Burpee and 

 Alfred Watkins, of Watkins & Simp- 

 son, and all three took part in the brief 

 toast list, as did also W. Cuthbertson. 



G. W, Leak is chairman of the soci- 

 ety's committee of management. He 

 is general manager for R. H. Bath, 

 Ltd., the Floral Farm, Wisbech, about 

 three hours by rail from London, and 

 he invited members to inspect the 

 firm's fields of sweet peas and other 

 flowers. Upwards of fifty accepted the 

 invitation and had a splendid outing 

 July 14, viewing the specialties of the 

 farm and enjoying the hospitality of 

 the firm at lunch and tea. This ended 

 the society's functions, but many 

 smaller parties were made up during 

 the week to view the sweet pea fields 

 for seed purposes in Essex, and the seed 

 prospects at present are good. Bee. 



