I 
74 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
SWEET PEAS AT WISLEY, 1921. 
The main object of the trial of Sweet Peas at Wisley planned for 1921, 
1922, and 1923, was to allow the Floral Committee to judge of the 
comparative value of available varieties as seen under ordinary garden 
cultivation instead of as produced for exhibition. The available 
space was insufficient to carry out a trial of all varieties in one year 
so as to include, as we wished, different raisers' stocks, in order to 
judge not only of the value of the variety, but also of the quality of 
the stocks offered. It was, therefore, deemed best to divide the 
varieties into three groups, the group falling to be grown in 1921 in- 
cluding varieties of mauve, lavender, and blue shades, that for 1922 
including pink varieties, and that for 1923 all others not included in 
1921 and 1922. 
One hundred and thirteen stocks were submitted for trial in 1921, 
and all were sown singly in small pots at the beginning of March. 
With the exception of No. 27, which failed to germinate, and Nos. 
5, 18, and 61, which were poor, all germinated well. As soon as they 
were large enough they were planted out in clumps (5 feet across), con- 
taining, with one or two exceptions, twenty-seven plants. They made 
good growth in spite of the hot, dry summer, and that without a great 
deal of watering. The early flower buds were removed, but after 
June 14 they were allowed to grow on, and when judged on July 16 they 
had reached a height of nearly six feet and were a mass of flowers. 
The plot on which they were planted had for a number of years grown 
Paeonies and Phloxes. After these had been removed it was deeply 
dug to a depth of about two feet, and had a considerable amount of 
decayed garden rubbish incorporated and a moderate dressing of pig 
manure. The plot was somewhat shaded during part of each day by 
standard apple trees, but every clump was in the full glare of the sun 
for several hours about midday, and the trial was a severe test of 
the standing qualities of the colours. In one direction, however, the 
season favoured the plants, for none of the flowers showed that dis- 
tressing discoloration which affects some colours, especially the dark 
blues, in a wet summer, and possibly flowers of this type had never 
displayed themselves to better advantage than in this season. 
It is remarkable that the last trial of sweet peas took place, like 
this, in a very hot, dry summer (1911). The report of that trial 
(Journal R.H.S. 37 (1912), p. 394) shows that fourteen varieties of 
blue shades were included and of these seven only were represented 
in the present trial. Even at that date the form of sweet pea called 
' Grandiflora,' which up to 1900 was the only one known, was being 
rapidly displaced by the ' Spencer ' types, and this movement has 
gone on until now the ' Grandiflora ' types are practically superseded, 
and it was only because growers were especially asked to include 
