62 CULTURE OF THE SWEET PEA 



of the flower is clamped, enclosing the 

 stigma and the anthers; whereas in the 

 Spencers, the keel is full or open and the 

 stigma protrudes farther out than the 

 anthers, thus interfering with complete 

 pollination. It would be hard to esti- 

 mate the value of the sweet pea seed to the 

 wholesalers and retailers of the United 

 States, but it is safe to put it down to about 

 $600,000. There is no acreage of sweet 

 peas worth mentioning grown in the 

 United States outside of California. A 

 few acres of high class varieties are grown 

 in England and in the other countries 

 above mentioned. Except in cases of 

 stock seed of new varieties, no sweet pea 

 seed is imported in California. 



When most people think of California 

 as a seed growing state, they have the idea 

 that it is a land where the only thing the 

 grower has to do is to plant and to harvest, 



