The Sweet Pea is not a Glutton 
advance. For producing the finest blooms put 
the plants out i| feet apart, and, taking up two 
or three growths, train each to a single rod or 
bamboo cane. From the first all tendrils should 
be removed from the plants : they are un- 
necessary when the plants are trained on the 
“ cordon ” system, and, moreover, if left, not 
infrequently coil round stem or flower truss to 
the detriment of both. Early suppress, too, 
all axillary growths or side shoots — these appear 
at the base of the flower-stem and rob it of 
support — retaining only the main growths and 
the flower-stems. Watering in times of drought 
should be carefully done, and only sun-warmed 
water should be used. Squirting water from a 
hosepipe with force — often a toy in the hands 
of the unthinking amateur — is highly dangerous. 
Should liquid manure be required, the diluted 
liquid from stable or sheep’s dung with soot 
given very weak will be found suitable. The 
Sweet Pea plant is not of a gluttonous nature, 
and no thoughtful cultivator would dream of 
gorging it with unsuitable food. 
E. H. Jenkins. 
Lavatera trimestris ; h.a. — A handsome 
bushy mallow with pink or white flowers, 4 feet 
high ; one of the best and showiest of hardy 
annuals. The pure, rather light pink of the 
older kind has been partly superseded by a so- 
called improved colouring of a deeper shade but 
