164 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTTCULTTTRAL SOCIETY. 



lie in the Sweet Pea, while giving ample practical information as to its 

 culture, and he has succeeded remarkabl}'' well in accomplishing the 

 task he set himself. The numerous black and white illustrations are 

 excellent, but we cannot say as much for the coloured plates, and 

 Mr. Wright will be well advised to leave them out or get better ones for 

 his next edition. To give an idea of the wide range of the book, we may 

 note that it deals with the introduction of the Sweet Pea and its rise into 

 public favour; the raising of plants; suitable soils and manures; best 

 methods of planting and supporting ; Sweet Peas for exhibition ; Sweet 

 Peas in the Colonies and in the United States of America ; a sort of 

 "Who's Who" in Sweet Pea culture, and a very full catalogue of 

 varieties. There is also an excellent chapter on raising new varieties, 

 explaining fully the correct method of cross-fertilization, and we are 

 glad he endeavours to impress upon raisers of novelties the necessity 

 for growing them for some years before attempting to dispose of them. 

 Mr. Wright, like other sensible people, grieves that the country is being 

 flooded with sorts which are dissimilar from existing varieties only in 

 name. Few men are in a better position than Mr. Wright to write well 

 about Sweet Peas, as he is Chairman of the Floral Committee of the 

 National Sweet Pea Society. Fie has an excellent prose style, but he 

 will never rank high as a poet ! 



"The Sweet Pea Annual, 1910." Edited by C. H. Curtis and 

 H. J. Wright. 8vo., 120 pp. (Curtis, Brentford, 1910.) 2s. 



The National Sweet Pea Society deserves great credit for the work 

 it is doing in its trials, and the " Annual, " in so far as it is a record of 

 these trials, and embodies the decisions of its Floral Committee as to the 

 best varieties in commerce, is invaluable. The 1910 edition is very 

 different from its predecessors, and, while it may be quite as valuable 

 to the expert, we are certain it will not be nearly so interesting to 

 amateurs as previous issues have been. There is an absence of the 

 " gossipy " or " chatty " articles which found a place in former years. 

 The full report of the Conference held in London on December 10, 1909, 

 occupies some thirteen pages. Mr. Cuthbertson's paper on " The 

 Imperfect Seeding of Waved Sweet Peas " is enhanced by the repro- 

 duction of the photographs he used as illustrations. Mr. W. J. Unwin's 

 paper on " Sweet Pea Names and Naming " is brief, but it contains one 

 or two valuable suggestions. We agree with Mr. Unwin that a more 

 detailed account of all fixed stocks might be given by the Society, but 

 we cannot see why the Society should withhold information regarding 

 the mixed stocks. Mr. Unwin says it is useless to waste time over 

 them. That is exactly what many cultivators have to do, and it is just 

 here the Society might help more than it does. About two-thirds 

 of the stocks sent to the trials are impure. It is information about 

 these the public wants, so as to avoid them. If the Society, however, 

 only adopts Mr. Unwin's plan and publishes in full the names of all 

 who send pure stocks, such will be helpful. Mr. Foster's note on the 

 Eeading Trials; Eeports of Outings; Annual Eeport; Financial State- 



