66 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
January, 1917 
SWEET PEAS 
And How To Grow Them for 
Exhibition 
Robert J. Sampson, 
Lake Geneva 
The cultivation of sweet peas 
for exhibition purposes has now 
become so popular that it is 
necessary to give the matter 
really serious consideration, if 
anything like success is to be 
achieved. 
Though the sweet pea will 
flower profusely under almost 
any conditions, yet, if good 
flowers are required, that are 
fit to compete against one’s 
neighbors, a more liberal mode 
of treatment must be adopted. 
The preparation of the soil 
is probably the chief essential 
towards success, and if this can 
be dug or trenched to a depth 
of from 2 to 3 feet in the Fall, 
and a liberal dressing of manure 
and bone meal given during the 
operation, and left fallow for the 
winter months, much less labor 
will be required during the sum- 
mer with the watering pot, etc. 
The nature of the manure 
does not matter very much, but 
if growers have their choice, I 
would advise the use of cow 
manure on light soils, whilst for 
soils of a heavier nature, good 
long, strawy horse or stable 
manure will be found equally 
satisfactory. 
Soot, old lime or mortar, rub- 
ble, leaf soil, road scrapings, etc. 
may also be incorporated with 
the soil. The former (soot) will 
help to check grub pests, whilst 
the other materials will help to 
make the soil, in many instances, 
more porous and easily worked at 
planting time; the less sticky the 
soil the more likely are the 
plants to grow away freely in it. 
Sowing In Pots 
For early exhibition purposes, 
it is best to sow in pots or boxes 
in the autumn and winter, in 
the cold frame or greenhouse 
from the middle to the end 
of October being the best time; 
when this is not convenient, 
they may be sown very early 
in February, this time also in 
pots or boxes, giving just a 
slight amount of heat to germi- 
nate the seeds, after which they 
must be treated as hardy as 
possible. This applies equally 
well to the autumn as to the 
spring sown plants. 
Air must be given on all fine 
days, in fact the lights may be 
entirely removed except when it 
is raining, or the weather is real 
cold. Precautions must be taken 
against the ravages of birds, 
mice, etc. 
Sowing Outside 
Sowing may also be made in 
the open ground from the begin- 
ning of March to the middle of 
April, according to the district 
and conditions of the soil, which 
should have been prepared as 
advised. A dry day should be 
chosen for sowing and the sur- 
face soil broken up very fine, 
where the drills are to be made; 
these should be from \\ to 2 
inches deep, and the seed placed 
about 3 inches apart in them, 
and these may be thinned to 
about one foot apart, after the 
plants become strong. 
Planting Out 
Plants raised in pots may be 
planted out any time after the 
beginning of April, providing the 
weather is favorable, and the soil 
in good workable condition. 
Previous to planting out, the 
plants should have been made as 
hardy as possible, by standing 
quite out in the open for a few 
days, with just a little shelter 
from the winds. In planting, the 
roots should be shaken fairly free 
from the soil, and a good hole 
made to receive them, spreading 
the roots carefully, fdling with 
fine soil, and making quite firm 
especially round the collar of 
the plant. It is a good plan to 
plant in double rows, allowing a 
foot apart each way between 
plants. A few small twigs should 
be put around the plants to keep 
them upright, and a little soot 
sprinkled among them to keep 
off slugs. The hoe should be 
kept going among the plants 
whenever the soil is dry enough, 
and apart from keeping an eye 
on them to see they are not 
injured by birds, slugs, or wire- 
worms, etc., this is all that 
should be necessary till they are 
tall enough for permanent stak- 
ing. 
Staking 
This should be done as soon as 
possible after planting out and 
before they by any chance get 
broken down by the wind. Stak- 
ing should be carefully done, and 
good straight maple brush is 
probably the best, and if that 
can be procured from 6 to 8 
feet high, so much the better as 
in a favorable season under good 
cultivation, they will attain this 
height. A little extra neatness 
and security is obtained if a 
wire or two is run from end to 
end of the rows, from posts, to 
which the tops of the brush may 
be tied here and there and in 
really windy and exposed dis- 
tricts this is quite necessary 
when growing for exhibition. 
Tying, Etc. 
To secure really high-class 
flowers, a little thinning of the 
shoots is almost a necessity, 
but it should not be carried too 
far — 3 or 4 shoots to each 
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