ANNUALS 239 



Sowing Seeds in Pots. In order to gain a month in season 

 Sweet Peas may be sown in 3-inch pots in February and placed in 

 a coldframe. But they are generally sown a month before wanted 

 for outdoor planting and a smaller pot is used. Four seeds are sown 

 in each pot. The frame used should be thoroughly cleaned and 

 dusted with soot or lime. They can stand quite a lot of cold, but 

 do not have them wet at the same time. Transplant outdoors when 

 possible; this is usually about mid- April. Normally, the seed should 

 be sown in open ground as early as March. As soon as the soil is 

 warm enough the seeds will germinate. 



Fall Sowing. For the Autumn sowing of Sweet Peas a piece 

 of soil should be selected which will warm quickly in the Spring. 

 Prepare it deeply, 2 to 3 feet, but use no manure. Make 

 a trench 2 inches deep and sow the seed thickly and cover with 

 loose soil. When the seedHngs have germinated and freezing weather 

 has begun, cover with 4 inches of coarse litter or straw, which must 

 be removed in the early Spring after heavy frosts are past. The seed 

 should be sown so that the shoots are just at surface of the soil 

 when Winter freezes set in, say, late in October or early in November, 

 according to latitude. 



Summer Treatment. Give frequent cultivation and when 

 the plants are nicely budded work bonemeal into the soil along the 

 rows. If conditions are very hot and dry give the plants frequent 

 syringings, which will keep down the red spider, and never allow 

 aphis half a chance. Keep the plants free from green fly. 



Staking. Many different methods aue advised for training the 

 vines. Perhaps no method is so successful as using brush or branch- 

 lets. Stretching string from pole to pole is an easy way. Such cord 

 can be easily removed when the Peas are through blooming. Chicken 

 wire is rather useful, but has two objections: it must be cleaned 

 each year, and it is thought to become heated a little too much, 

 causing the Pea vines to dry prematurely. 



TAGETES (Marigold). Three species are very common an- 

 nuals with a pungent odor and brilKant golden yellow, lemon and 

 maroon flowers. T. erecta, the African Marigold, is taller than 

 T. patula, the French Marigold and the five-leaved and small- 

 flowered T. signata var. pumila. They are of the very simplest 

 culture, but good soil increases the size of the flowers. 



Propagation. Seeds may be sown very early in the Spring. 



