HOME AND FLOWERS 



A TALK ABOUT SWEET PEAS 



■'npHE sweet pea is a most popular flower 

 I with all flower lovers^ and many 

 succeed in growing it to perfection, 

 ^vhile, judging from the complaints of 

 failure that come in, season after season, 

 many have not yet learned how to do so. 

 '^I wish you'd tell us the ^knack' of suc- 

 cessful sweet-pea culture/' wrote a lady 

 to me not long ago. "I get the best seed 



1 can find each 3'ear. I sow it in the best 

 part of my garden, and give my plants the 

 best care I know how to, and yet I never 

 have such fine flowers as many of my 

 neighbors grow, or so many of them. There 

 must be a ^knack' to it. Please tell us 

 w^hat it is." 



All the "knack" there is to it is the 

 *^know how," as my grandmother used to 

 say. It's simple enough, when you under- 

 stand it. I do not think I can make the 

 matter plainer than by telling you how I 

 grow my sweet peas. And I grow them 

 w^ell. 



As early in April as the ground can be 

 worked with the hoe T sow the seed. Let 

 me tell you right here luhy we do this at 



2 time when it would not be safe to sow 

 the seed of almost any other plant. The 

 sweet pea is a plant that likes' to have its 

 roots in cool soil, and moist, cool weather 

 suits it much better than dry, hot weather. 

 This being the case, it naturally follows 

 that it gets a better start when sown early, 

 when conditions are suited to its liking, 

 than later. F>y early planting we give it 

 the opportunity to form its roots before 

 the weather is warm enough to encourage 

 much top grov/th. If we plant late the 

 development of roots and top would go 

 on sinmltaneously, and neither would be 

 as strong as where the roets are allowed 

 to get under headway before the top makes 

 much demand on them. This explains 

 why early planting is advised. 



The first step in the process of planting 

 is to make a Y-shaped trench for the re- 

 ception of the seed. It should be at least 

 six inches deep. The reason for doing this 



is, the sweet pea likes to have its roots deep 

 down in the soil where there is permanent 

 coolness and moisture, and by the trench 

 method we secure both these conditions. 

 Sow the seeds about an inch apart. Cover 

 to the depth of an inch, pressing the soil 

 down firmly. In a few days the young 

 plants will appear. The cold weather 

 which we often have in April does not seem 

 to affect them in the least. As soon as they 

 have grown to be about three inches high 

 draw in some of the soil thrown out of 

 the trench, and heap it up about them. 

 Continue to do this at intervals as the 

 plants stretch up, until all the soil taken 

 from the trench has been returned to it. 

 In this way we secure plants with roots 

 below the danger of drouth. They will 

 be able to withstand the debilitating effects 

 of midsummer without receiving any check 

 from it, which is not the case with plants 

 whose roots are near the surface. 



To grow the sweet pea to the greatest 

 advantage we must feed it well. It can not 

 do itself justice in a poor soil. Those liv- 

 ing in the country, where barnyard ma- 

 nure is easily obtainable, will find old, 

 v/ell-rotted cow manure a most excellent 

 fertilizer. Mix it in liberally with the 

 soil about the plants. If the soil is spaded 

 up before seed is sov/n the fertilizer can 

 be added then, or it can be applied at 

 intervals later. But be sure to get it down 

 where the roots can get the benefit of it. 

 Those who live in cities or villages where 

 it is not an easy matter to procure barn- 

 yard fertilizer will find bone meal an 

 excellent substitute. This can be bought 

 at any store where agricultural goods are 

 sold, or it can be ordered from the florist 

 of whom you purchase seed. The finely- 

 ground article is best, as it gives prompter 

 results than coarse meal. Scatter it along 

 the rows when the soil from the trench 

 is drawn in about the plants. It is not 

 an easy matter to name the proportion in 

 which it should be used, as soils differ 

 greatly in natural fertility, but it is safe 



