70 VINES 
against-the’ wind. The supporting brush or 
other material must be put in at this time or 
before. It is important not to delay putting up 
the support until after the young plants have 
grown over, for if they once begin to sprawl on 
the ground there is much difficulty in getting 
them started up again. As to the support, 
brush is by far the best; next to that poultry wire. 
In the latter case it may sometimes be necessary 
to stretch wire or string on each side of the row 
to keep the vines in place. 
When the weather gets hot and dry, mulch 
with stable litter, grass clippings, or, in fact, 
anything that will help retain the moisture in the 
soil and give an abundance of water at the roots. 
When the plants flower, go over the row every 
day picking the blossoms, whether you can use 
them or not. If you do not do so, the plants 
will produce seed; and when they do that they 
stop flowering. 
There are many varieties of sweet peas, and 
although at a cursory glance some may seem to 
be duplicates of others, you will find slight differ- 
ences on close inspection. There is no necessity 
of growing all the varieties the seedsman offers; 
make a selection (all named varieties), growing as 
many as you can the first season and selecting 
