SWEET PEAS 83 
Artificial manures need to be applied very carefully. Svot is 
good and safe, but any of the reliable fertilisers, such as Clay’s, 
guano, and others, are valuable if weak doses are given about once a 
week when the plants are growing freely. An overdose will cause 
the buds to turn yellow and fall off. It is important not to allow 
seed pods to form if a long succession of bloom is wanted ; the 
plants cannot continue to bear flowers and mature seeds at the 
same time. Therefore all dead and dying blooms must be carefully 
picked off. It is not worth while to pinch out the tops of Sweet 
Peas when seeds are sown outdoors in February; they branch out 
and make excellent plants without this attention. 
Flowers for Exhibition.—Exhibitors sow the seeds in Janu- 
ary, five seeds in a 43-inch pot or three seeds in a smaller pot in a 
greenhouse or frame. The little plants are carefully nursed, and 
subsequently hardened off to be planted out of doors from the 
middle to the end of April, according to the state of the weather. 
They are put out in ground that has been trenched 3 feet deep and 
enriched with manure. Flowers for exhibition are grown in rows. 
and in clumps ; if in rows each plant is 12 or 18 inches from its 
neighbour ; if in clumps three potfuls of seedlings, say nine plants, 
form a clump. The clumps are 6 feet in diameter, and one clump 
is 5 or 6 feet away from the others. Sweet Peas are commonly 
grown in rows:in little gardens, and very delightful they are. One 
gets most from a given area of ground in this way, but clamps look 
extremely well, especially in a mixed flower border. ‘The seeds may 
be sown in clumps in mid-February ; fifteen or twenty seeds might 
go to each clump, thinning the plants to half that number if it is 
necessary, so as to allow 6 inches between each seedling. Instead of 
having a straight row of Sweet Peas one might arrange it in zigzag 
fashion ; this would be a welcome change, and the flowers would 
look quite as well if not better than when disposed in the 
stereotyped way. 
Autumn sown Sweet Peas are not to be recommended for 
little gardens unless the soil is of a sandy or gravelly nature, and 
therefore keeps dry duriug the winter. In such circumstances 
autumn sowing would probably be advantageous. However, there 
is always the danger of the plants “ damping off” or falling a prey to 
slugs during the long, dull winter months; and this danger is 
especially present on heavy land. I have sown Sweet Peas in early 
autumn in a little garden, but the majority of the seedlings failed to 
live through the winter. October is the best month in which to 
raise autumn sown Sweet Peas; the little plants must be well 
earthed up as they progress, so that the stems may be protected as 
much as possible. If seed is sown before October the plants grow 
fairly tall before Christmas and then are less likely to pass safely 
through the cold weather than shorter, sturdier plants. If seed is 
