March, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



63 



their vines in the evening. It is much better 

 to syringe the vines in the early morning. 



HOW AND WHEN TO PLANT 



Satisfactory results with the sweet pea may 

 be had by planting the seed at the earliest 

 possible opportunity in the spring. The 

 plants are quite hardy and no injury will 

 result if the soil should become slightly 

 frozen after the seed is planted. It is the 

 practice of the most successful growers to 

 prepare the ground for the sweet pea rows in 

 the fall. Then, as soon as the surface soil 

 dries out in the spring, the furrows or drills 

 are made about three inches deep, without 

 digging or replowing the ground. This plan 

 permits of a much earlier planting, as where 

 the ground has to be dug or plowed it must 

 dry out to a greater depth to be put into the 

 proper condition for planting. 



Arrange the rows to give the maximum of 

 sunlight and fresh air. Where more than a 

 single row is planted, have at least four feet 

 of clear space between the rows. 



Do not plant the seeds too thickly, or the 

 vines will be crowded and slender in growth. 

 One ounce of seed to fifteen feet of row is 

 sufficient under ordinary conditions. 



The seed may be covered from two to four 

 inches deep in planting, but for quick ger- 

 mination, I would advise making a drill two 

 inches deep, and covering the seed with fine 

 soil level with the surface, hilling up to a 

 further depth of two to four inches with 

 fine soil drawn up about the young vines as 

 they become established in growth. 



Provide support of brush, or a trellis of 

 poultry netting, or of stakes and twine for the 

 vines, and set this either when the seed is 

 planted or at some time before the vines are 

 more than four to five inches in height, for if 

 the vines are allowed to fall over on the soil, 

 it is a very difficult matter to get them to 

 attach themselves to the trellis, or brush, and 

 to assume the desired erect position. 



Varieties having pure paper-white flowers, 

 and also some of the varieties with flowers of 

 light shades of color, have white-skinned seeds 

 in contrast to the black or dark brown skin of 

 the seed of the darker colors. These light- 

 colored seeds are more tender than the dark 

 seeds and are likely to rot in the ground if 



Class III. Dwarf early-flowering. Blooms in sixty 

 or seventy days. Only fifteen inches high 



planted too early, while the soil is still cold 

 and wet. This trouble is due to the tender 

 character of the outer covering of the seed, 

 and as it is not always desirable to wait until 

 later in the season to plant the white-flowered 

 sorts, it is best to follow the "Hutchins" 

 method with these. This consists simply in 

 placing the paper bag containing the seed two 

 or three inches deep in the ground and cover- 

 ing it with earth. Treated in this way, the 

 seed absorbs moisture and swells more 

 gradually, and will be ready for planting in 

 the regular manner in about a week's time. 



For the warm South and the moderate 

 winters of the Middle States, the plan of a 



late fall planting of sweet pea seed gives very 

 satisfactory results, the seeds being sown in 

 drills two inches deep in well drained ground, 

 late in the fall, to lie dormant in the ground 

 through the winter. This fall planted seed 

 germinates much earlier than the earliest 

 spring planting that can be made, and comes 

 in flower at least a month earlier, giving 

 larger and better flowers. I have also found 

 that a late spring planting, made about the 

 last of May or early in June, will produce 

 very good flowers, but not nearly as many of 

 them, during the cool fall months. 



In these late spring and fall plantings, I 

 make the rows four feet apart and have the 

 plants stand six to twelve inches apart, allow- 

 ing the vines to run at will over the ground. 

 This plan seems to greatly prolong the life of 

 the vines and gives a correspondingly longer 

 period of bloom, over those grown on a trellis 

 or brush in the ordinary manner. 



In the late fall planting, I sow the seed 

 quite thickly, an ounce to ten or fifteen feet 

 of row, and ridge the earth slightly above 

 the row when covering the seed. The ger- 

 mination is not as even as from the early 

 spring planting, but this quantity of seed 

 will give an ample stand for good results, as 

 where the vines are left spreading on the 

 soil they will branch much more freely than 

 when grown on a trellis. 



FERTILIZERS AND CULTIVATION 



The best fertilizer for promoting the 

 growth of the sweet pea is barnyard manure, 

 which should be dug or plowed into the 

 ground the preceding fall, but well-rotted or 

 decayed manure can be used in the spring in 

 liberal quantities. Next to this comes 

 finely ground, pure raw bone as a high-grade 

 commercial fertilizer, which must be well 

 mixed with the soil before the seed is planted. 



As soon as the young plants are well above 

 the ground, begin cultivation. Keep the 

 surface soil loose and fine to a depth of two or 

 three inches by frequent hoeings or workings 

 with a cultivator. This not only keeps the 

 soil free from weeds, but greatly assists the 

 growth of the vines by admitting a good 

 supply of air to the roots, and ensures the 

 moisture of the soil. After the vines com- 

 mence flowering place a mulch two inches 



Class IV. FreaKs are abortive forms and desirable only as curiosities Class V. Doubles. Not a distinct class, but appears in the grandifiora type 



