SWEET PEA REVIEW. 
What they s.a.Y— Continued 
The Press 
Chicago and New York, 
Jan. 23, 1897. 
" SwRET Pea Review." — Every 
seedsman in the world should lift his 
hat to the Sunset .Seed and PUnt Com- 
pany, of San Francisco, in compliment 
to them for publishing their descriptive 
review of all the standard varieties of 
Sweet Peas. 1 have taken nothing out 
of the mail for a long tnne that suited 
me so exactly. For five years we have 
wanted somebody to prepare a thor 
oughly complete descriptive list of all 
the Sweet Peas, that should be a stand- 
ard for reterence, and we have had 
nothing so near the mark as this little 
book. It could only be done by some- 
one who had a large acreage of the 
growing varieties to closely study It 
has been done with scientific accuracy, 
and with the evident intent to he 
strictly impartial. There are thirty- 
one pages of solid type, giving the 
descriptions by color groups, each 
group being arranged in the order of 
merit. Size and form are perhaps 
given first honor, although a rare color 
sometimes takes pre-eminence. 1 do 
not know whether it is .Mr. Sproule's 
work or not, but whoever has mad^ 
this book is an exi)ert observer of the 
smallest details of this flower, and has 
followed closely its development. They 
haveevidentlvlived among Sweet Peas 
for several years. If they did not love 
them, they could not have written such 
perfect descriptions. There is first a 
chart containing twelve figures. These 
are twelve circles of uniform size, and 
in each circle is a life-size outline of a 
standard, beginning at Fig i with the 
old and most inferior form of standard, 
which looks small in the circle, and 
progressing till Fig, 12 is filled out 
with one of the most recently developed 
novelties. There is no exaggeration 
of size. At the end of the book the 
entire list of varieties is classified 
according to these twelve progressive 
and variable forms of standard. There 
are some very interesting halftone 
cuts, one of a comparative study of 
the five white varieties, another a 
beautiful view of a field of Cupid that 
ought to save that great novelty from 
unjust disparagement, another of a 
hybridizer at work, the pleasant sight 
of which makes me envious, then a 
cut showing the work of roguing. 
Red Ridiug Hood comes in for a cut 
also, 1 am sure the Sunset Company 
will receive manv handshakes for this 
admirable and practical idea which 
they have put into print If any seeds- 
man, florist, or amateur wants a 
descriptive list that really describes, 
they should get this little book. The 
author says, " accuracy has been aimed 
at," and he is a "pood shot," There 
may he an occasional expression of 
opinion in the book that is a little open 
to question, but it supplies admirably 
a felt need, and is so accurate in its 
descriptions that I give my hand 
heartily to the author and the pi b 
lishers.— (K 7". Hiitchinsin The A"i-^n 
can J^Utrist. 
