1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
283 
TWO FLORICULTURAL BULLETINS 
Sweet Peas. 
In Bulletin 127, of the Cornell Ex¬ 
periment Station, a second account is 
given of sweet peas tested at the station 
grounds. Last year, in Bulletin 111, re¬ 
ports were made on the merits of sweet 
peas obtained from seeds commonly 
offered by dealers. In the present bul¬ 
letin, an effort is made to judge upon 
the merits of seeds obtained from special¬ 
ists and plant breeders. 
The peas were sown April 20, upon a 
low-lying clay loam, which was kept 
thoroughly tilled until the plants began 
to bloom freely. The tests included 176 
varieties. Growers are reminded that 
it is easy to make the ground too rich 
for sweet peas. When complaints are 
made that the vines grow freely, but do 
not bloom, the cause is likely to be ex¬ 
cessive use of stable manure, which 
causes the plants to run to vine. The 
sweet pea belonging to the leguminous 
class, appropriates nitrogen for itself, 
and does not, therefore, need heavy 
applications of nitrogenous manures. 
Another trouble reported is where the 
young plants died after making a good 
growth of several inches. In this case, 
the ailment was damping-off, the result 
of frequent surface waterings, which 
kept the top of the ground soggy. A 
sweet-pea bed rarely needs watering 
more than once a week, if in good soil, 
and if the seeds are sown early, frequent 
stirring of the surface is better than 
any watering at all. 
As a result of the growth at the ex¬ 
periment grounds, the following varie¬ 
ties are given as the best representa¬ 
tives in the different classes : dark pur¬ 
ple, Waverly, Duke of Clarence ; striped 
purple, Gray Friar, Juanita, Senator; 
lavender, Countess of Radnor, Lottie 
Eekford ; white, The Bride, Emily Hen¬ 
derson ; primrose, Mrs. Eekford ; white 
flushed with pink, Blushing Beauty, 
Katherine Tracy, Eliza Eekford ; striped 
or flaked pink, Ramona, Mrs. Joseph 
Chamberlain ; orange-pink, Lady Pen¬ 
zance, Meteor ; rose-pink, Her Majesty, 
Splendor ; rose-pink shaded with orange, 
Firefly, Princess Victoria. This list 
simply gives the results on this experi¬ 
ment plot, but it contains a most excel¬ 
lent selection. Blanche Burpee, which 
is very highly praised by most growers, 
did not, in this trial, come up to Emily 
Henderson. It is said that Emily Hen¬ 
derson is inferior to Blanche Burpee be¬ 
cause the standard is notched, curls or 
reflexes, and the color is not pure white, 
having a tinge of green. Blanche Bur¬ 
pee, however, showed a tendency to 
fade before maturity, and was not a 
lasting flower. 
The plants in the experiment plot, 
sown April 20, were in fine bloom July 
20, and continued until the first week in 
October, a few isolated blossoms appear¬ 
ing after October 10. For a small col¬ 
lection of 10 varieties, the following list 
is given : Blushing Beauty, Apple Blos¬ 
som, Countess of Radnor or Dorothy 
Tennant, Duke of Clarence or Waverly, 
Boreatton, Eliza Eekford or Katherine 
Tracy, Mrs. Eekford, Ramona, Gray 
Friar, and for white either Queen of 
England or Alba Magnifica. Neither of 
these whites is equal to the colored 
varieties, but these two, it is said, show 
the least number of bad points, all the 
white varieties being put below the 
colored ones in merit. 
Two small tests in sweet peas under 
glass have been made at Cornell. Seeds 
sown in a bench in a chrysanthemum 
house October 24 began to bloom Feb¬ 
ruary 20, and continued in good flower 
for six weeks. Other seeds sown in pots, 
and planted out in the chrysanthemum 
bench December 10, bloomed very freely. 
It is the custom with many carnation 
growers to grow sweet peas in their 
carnation benches as, by the time the 
sweet peas are large enough to shade 
the carnations, the sun is strong enough 
to prevent this trifling shade from being 
detrimental. 
A Talk About Dahlias. 
MOTHERS. —Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
The dahlia show held in Philadelphia 
last September proved a revelation to 
the public, regarding the beauty and 
value of this old-fashioned flower. Bul¬ 
letin No. 128 of the Cornell Experiment 
Station entitled, A Talk about Dahlias, 
gives experience with this plant at 
Ithaca last year, 354 different named 
varieties being grown. The dahlias 
tested were of the single, pompon, large- 
flowered and cactus classes. The cactus 
dahlias are entirely free from the stiff 
formality that detracts from the beauty 
of many large-flowering varieties, and 
they are extremely showy. 
In sandy soils, dahlias make compara¬ 
tively few tuberous roots, tend to be¬ 
come dwarf, and flower profusely. In 
very rich, loamy soils, they make more 
roots and fewer flowers. Too much 
nitrogenous food makes a rank, coarse 
growth and few flowers. No amount of 
added plant food can ever atone for 
neglect of the physical condition of the 
soil. Frequent shallow cultivation to 
prevent the escape of moisture into the 
air, is necessary, for the dahlia is sensi¬ 
tive to the lack of moisture. The large- 
flowered varieties need a space about 
four feet square to attain their best 
growth as individual plants. 
Three systems of training dahlias are 
noted. In one, the shoots are allowed 
to come up from the roots without any 
interference, and in this way, the varie¬ 
ties catalogued as pompons, dwarfs and 
bedders are grown. With the large- 
flowering and cactus types, where large 
and perfect blooms are desired, only one 
main shoot is allowed to grow from a 
clump of roots, all other shoots being 
pinched off. This produces a tree-like 
growth, and such plants require staking 
and tying, as they are easily broken by 
high winds. A third method is the 
single-stem branching system. All the 
shoots but one are removed, and this is 
allowed to grow until two pairs of leaves 
are above ground, with a young and 
unexpanded growth on the top. This 
undeveloped portion is pinched off, and 
the young buds in the axils of the 
leaves grow out into long branches. 
The plant will then have a very short, 
thick and strong single stem which 
comes up only an inch or two above 
ground, and then gives place to four 
long branches. These branches are 
strong enough to hold themselves up 
without stakes, and they can endure 
heavy winds. The object is to have the 
plants branch at the surface of the 
ground, and the pinching must be done 
as early in the season as possible. It 
is a common belief among gardeners 
that late pinching makes short-stemmed 
flowers, and early pinching gives the 
long stems so much desired. 
It is best not to take up the dahlia 
roots for, at least, a week after frost, as 
the tubers ripen better and are not 
so likely to shrivel when stored in the 
cellar over winter. The roots should be 
turned upside down in the sunshine to 
let the water drain out of the stems. 
The following list is given as the best 
12 varieties tested : Mrs. A. Peart, 
cactus, white ; Nymphma, cactus, pink ; 
Wm. Agnew, cactus, scarlet-orange ; 
Maid of Kent, cactus, scarlet and white ; 
Black Prince, cactus, dark red ; Grand 
Duke Alexis, large-flowered, chiefly 
white; A. D. Livoni or Ethel Vick, 
synonymous, large-flowered, pink ; Rev. 
C. W. Bolton, large-flowered, variegated 
red and yellow; Fern-leaved Beauty, 
large-flowered, banded, red and white ; 
Guiding Star, pompon, white, imbri 
cated; Vivid, pompon, scarlet-orange ; 
Ami Barillet, single, scarlet. 
Hydrangea Otaksa. 
Amateur , Philadelphia .—Can I plant out the 
hydrangeas forced into bloom at Easter, after 
they have finished flowering, and have them do 
well ? I have been told that they are not entirely 
hardy. 
Ans.—H ydrangea Otaksa is the variety 
usually forced for Easter, and it would 
be useless outside. It will live, but the 
young wood is killed off year after year, 
so that no flowers are produced. Let 
your plant stay outside all summer, 
watering sparingly as the leaves begin 
to turn yellow and the wood to show 
signs of ripening. By autumn, the plant 
may be dried off entirely, and stored 
away under the bench in the greenhouse, 
or in a cellar free from frost, until 
ready to start into growth again. Repot, 
cut back, and start into growth, about 
the middle of December, treating liber¬ 
ally when growing freely, and it should 
be in bloom again at Easter. Never let 
the hydrangeas suffer for want of water 
when growing freely ; the heavy foliage 
will droop and receive a check that will 
be apparent in the whole plant. 
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