262 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 21, 1893. 
quantities in Essex, where several acres are also devoted to the culture 
of his Sweet Peas only, so great is the demand for seeds for home use 
and export to America and other parts of the world. The different 
varieties are sown thinly in rows in March, and when in full bloom they 
form a grand sight. Great care is taken that any plant not in its 
character should be allowed to remain mixed with the true variety. 
The rows are about 6 feet apart, so that an abundance of air is admitted, 
and there is plenty of space for a constant inspection of the plants, to 
detect any sport or “ rogue.” 
Mr. Eckford is aiming at producing a yellow Sweet Pea, as well 
as a blue, and I think I may predict that this wilt be obtained some day, 
for in Primrose there is a shade of yellow, and this is being worked out 
further ; and in Countess of Radnor and Emily Eckford we have a very 
near approach to a blue coloured Sweet Pea. The following new 
varieties not yet sent out will be weleome acquisitions to those fine sorts 
already in cultivation :— 
Dnehess of York. —White, deeply striped and barred with pink ; a 
pleasing shade of colour, and a large flower of perfect form. 
Du]<€ of York. —The standard is bright rosy pink, with a primrose 
tint in it. The wings are primrose, tinted white, and it is a distinct, 
fine variety. 
The Belle. —The standard is splashed with rosy pink, and the wings 
with rose and blush. A charming variety, and will be a favourite. 
3feteor. —Bright orange tinted pink, flushed with scarlet, and a 
violet tint which deepens to the centre. A bright, rich distinct variety 
of great beauty. 
Eliza, Eckford. —The standard pink-tinted blush, with a rosy purple 
stripe, and splashed with pink towards the edges, varying in colour at 
times ; the wings are creamy white. A very distinct and attractive 
variety. 
Excelsior. —The standard is orange red, the wings a magenta red, 
rich and bright in colour ; flower large and stout. 
Frincess May, —White striped, and flaked with delicate pinkish 
purple and fine. 
Countess of Aberdeen. —White, delicately tinted towards the edge of 
the standard with soft pink, and with blush tinted wings ; a charming 
var.ety. 
Mrs. Chamberlain. —White, striped, and flaked heavily with bright 
rose ; very striking and pretty. 
Novelty. —Orange, tinted rose standard, and the wings of a delicate 
mauve colour, lightly margined with rose, and very bright. 
Blanche Burpee. —Wings and standard creamy white, large and 
stout in texture ; a fine variety, named by Mr. Eckford in honour of an 
American lady. 
Of varieties already sent out, Mrs. Sankey is an unsurpassed white 
of the finest quality ; Orange Prince is very distinct ; Cardinal, brilliant 
scarlet crimson ; Isa Eckford, The Queen, and Apple Blossom are all 
very pretty. Imperial Blue is a fine blue-tinted mauve, and Splendour 
is of the finest form and rich in colour. Lottie Eckford is as yet very 
little known, but is very distinct and handsome, resembling the old 
variety Butterfly, white, slightly margined with blue. Countess of 
Radnor, Her Majesty, and Dorothy Tennant are three superb varieties ; 
and Mrs. Eckford, a delicate primrose tinted white, is a charming 
variety. Lemon Queen is very distinct, and Monarch, Senator, Mrs. 
Gladstone, and Princess Victoria should be in every collection. Of the 
new varieties distributed this year. Firefly, Venus, Lady Penzance, and 
Blushing Beauty are all beautiful. Emily Eckford is extra fine, and 
very nearly a blue, Stanley is a very rich coloured, deep velvety 
maroon colour, and extra fine. Ovid is a flower of great beauty, truly a 
gem, and bright in colour. Royal Rose and Peach Blossom are two very 
pretty rosy pink-tinted flowers. 
Culinary Peas. 
The old Ne Plus Ultra has for a long time been Mr. Eckford’s 
standard variety for breeding from for its excellent flavour and full 
blunt-ended pod, and trying to get very productive early varieties 
of much shorter habit with finer pods, but retaining all Ne Plus Ultra’s 
good flavour. An inspection of the Wem seedlings through the growing 
season gives ample evidence of successful results, and many seedlings are 
discarded because not up to Mr. Eckford’s high standard of excellence, 
and yet are very excellent Peas. These seedlings have to be grown for 
three or four years to get their true character firmly set by hard “rogue- 
ing” out of every plant not possessing the true characteristics of the 
variety, and then t > be grown in sufficient quantity for sending out. A 
new variety named Aston Gem when sent out will be a great acquisition, 
and grows 3 feet high ; a late blunt-ended pod ; a wrinkled Marrow of 
Ne Plus Ultra breed, with long, large, handsome well-filled pods, and 
a heavy cropper from the root upwards. This is in every way a very 
fine Pea. 
Critic. —This is a thin strawed Pea, the foliage not being so heavy as 
on many others, but it is a very fine market variety and for general use ; 
blunt-ended pod ; a midseason Pea, growing 5 feet high, coming into 
bearing quickly, and of first-class flavour. 
i '%,Colossus. —A profuse cropper ; a second early wrinkled Marrow, 
growing 5 feet high, and of first-class quality. 
Wem. —A wonderfully fine variety with blunt ended pods, which are 
long and well filled, a Ne Plus Ultra seedling producing heavily from 
bottom to top and from 4 to 5 feet high. 
Bears a close resemblance to Wem, but has a deeper green 
pod, and is a first-class variety. 
Epicure.—Y siqxq were several long rows of this excellent Pea 
snowing its free bearing qualities. It is a green wrinkled Marrow with 
large deep green pointed pods, with an average of ten peas in a pod, and 
of first-class quality. Height about 5 feet. 
Juno .—A very dwarf-variety and most prolific. A fine late Marrow¬ 
fat Pea. 
Armorial .—This variety grows 4 to 5 feet high, has a very long 
blunt ended pod, with peas of a large size. A splendid exhibition Pea, 
as well as being first-class for general use. 
Chieftain .—Long handsome slightly curved pods, with from ten to 
twelve peas in a pod, of dwarf habit and a profuse bearer, the plants 
having an abundance of pods from the bottom upwards, and the flavour 
excellent. 
Censor .—This variety was to have been sent out last spring, but the 
stock being limited it was withheld until next winter. It is a deep 
green wrinkled Marrow, growing 3 feet hieh, very fine pods, and a 
valuable main-crop variety for productiveness and high quality. 
Superabundant .—A dwarf Pea, an immense cropper of the first 
quality. A grand market variety, and bushy plants 2 feet and more 
through of this kind showed up its productiveness. 
Consummate. — Another high-class Pea, about 2J feet high, with 
large pods, most productive, and of the best quality. Useful for market 
gardens. 
Other first-class varieties were to be seen, but enough has been said 
to show the kind of new Peas emanating from Wem. The seeds of 
culinary Peas are sown very thinly, and then the true character of each 
variety is seen, and heavy crops of well matured pods are secured. 
New Peas sent out by other raisers are grown at Wem for comparison in 
order to fairly test them. Mr. Eckford freely acknowledges merit in 
the productions of others, but I may safely say that by careful hybri¬ 
dising and judicious selection the Wem Peas will be only surpassed by 
others of very high class quality and superiority in other respects, and 
this will be no easy matter.—W. D. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SHANKING GRAPES. 
Fortunately I have not had much Grape shanking to contend 
with, but I have seen the evil and destruction it has caused in several 
instances, and my sympathy was very much with the growers who had 
charge of the Vines. Of all the ills to which Vines are subject I think 
shanking is the worst, with the exception of phylloxera. Each season up 
to a certain point the Vines may appear in the best of health, and all goes 
well until the unfortunate moment arrives and destruction of the crop 
sometimes follows in a very short space of time. 
What produces shanking, and how can it be cured ? I have heard 
some say the mischief proceeds from the roots being in a cold and 
unhappy state, others that sudden changes of temperature encourage it, 
and now the question arises, does thinning the bunches have anything 
to do with it ? 
The first of these supposed causes I believe is the principal one, or 
this and the second combined ; but I should certainly think the last has 
nothing whetever to do with the matter. I quite agree with the Editor’s 
footnote on page 238, that Mr. Richardson may yet have Grapes free from 
shanking if he follows the treatment he has adopted with success so far 
if he thins the bunches. It would have been more interesting to readers, 
and I fancy a decided gain to the grower, had Mr. Richardson carried 
his experiments a little farther, and, coupled with the generous treat¬ 
ment to which the Vines previously were strangers, carefully thinned 
the bunches on every other Vine ; he would have seen at a glance if the 
scissors had in any way assisted in the wholesale shanking, which I am 
inclined to doubt very much. 
Mr. Richardson does not tell us which border he fed, inside or 
out; and in wishing him every success with the work he has in hand, I 
cannot help thinking there may be another cause which may in a great 
measure account for less shanking this season than formerly—viz , the 
tropical summer we have had. 
I think it is pretty generally understood that anyone would expe¬ 
rience considerable trouble in keeping a narrow inside border full of 
healthy feeding roots without constant attention to watering and feed¬ 
ing regularly and freely, which the Vines in question did not receive, 
especially so w'hen the same Vines had unlimited root run outside. In 
fact, I should be a little surprised to find any roots in such a border 
under the conditions mentioned. 
Now perhaps the excessive heat this summer has been such as to suit 
the roots in the outside border ; at least, I should think they were in a 
happier state than in ordinary summers, or, in other words, has not these 
outside roots been too deep and too cold previously for the well doing 
of the Vines, hence the shanking ? and has not the great heat coupled 
with generous treatment been the cause of bringing the roots nearer the 
surface with beneficial results ? 
In many localities where the subsoil is good and warm. Vine roots 
travel both a great depth and distance, and seem to revel in it ; but I 
doubt if that would be the case at South Shields or the neighbourhood 
by what I can remember of the locality. 
I cannot believe that not thinning the bunches this season has as¬ 
sisted Mr. Richardson much in his improvement of the Grapes in his 
charge. If thinning assisted shanking in any way we s’nould see a 
great deal more than we do, and thinning is sometimes done in a rough » 
and ready way. 
A good bunch of Grapes can be easily spoilt with the scissors unless 
the operator knows what he is about, and no doubt much harm is often 
done by delaying the work too long, and if done clumsily or with blunt 
or rusty scissors each berry taken off leaves a wound, which does not 
