THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
471 
1933 
-/ W >r i 
f » 
Ruralisms 
CULTURE OF SWEET PEAS 
Probably there is no flower in cultiva¬ 
tion that stands in as high favor with 
the masses as the sweet pea. Its great 
beauty, combined with its delightful fra¬ 
grance has endeared it to the hearts of 
all flower lovers. By reason of the ex¬ 
tensive hybridization carried on by vari¬ 
ous growers of the sweet pea during 
the past IS or 20 years it has been 
brought to a degree of perfection far 
surpassing the fondest dreams of its 
most ardent admirers of two decades 
ago. With the old time sweet pea, ex¬ 
treme hardiness was one of its peculiar 
characteristics, being able to germinate 
and grow in a temperature so low that 
no other plants could survive, but this 
THE WALNUT WORKERS. Fig. 151. 
seems to be all changed to-day. With 
the sweet pea, like many other plants, 
the more highly it is bred, the less hardy 
it seems to be, and the more capricious 
it becomes. 
Every year numerous complaints are 
heard of failures by amateurs in the 
cultivation of this flower, all claiming 
they followed the usual method of prep¬ 
aration of the soil, very early planting, 
etc., and they cannot understand why 
failure should result. Rev. W. F. 
Hutchins, in his booklet, “Sweet Peas 
Up to Date,” published in 1896, says: 
We can hardly reduce to rules the cul¬ 
ture of any highly developed flower. 
Each popular flower as fast as it is 
taken out of nature’s simple realm of 
primitive law and plodding habit, and 
carried up to the more queenly realm of 
the hybridizer’s art, comes forth filled 
with maiden roguishness in proportion 
to its improved beauty, so that even the 
skilled culturist cannot tell what it will 
do next. Our best rules are often but 
a piteous appeal to this coquettish flower, 
and that to behave itself and settle 
down to sober sense. In the light of 
the above truth, is it any wonder so 
many fail in their efforts to get satis¬ 
factory results ? Many growers have 
learned by practical experience that the 
old method of planting and cultivation 
of this flower is no longer dependable; 
failures or partial failures have become 
so frequent that the old method of 
trucking and early planting is no longer 
practiced by many growers. For years 
it was the practice to plant in manured 
trenches prepared either in the Fall or 
early Spring, not later than the twenti¬ 
eth of March, and as much earlier as it 
could be done, but experience has taught 
us that early planting is in many in¬ 
stances followed by loss of seed through 
rotting. This is especially true of the 
light-seeded varieties. They are seem¬ 
ingly unable to survive the cold and 
dampness of early Spring. 
After repeated disappointments, I 
abandoned the trenching method and 
early planting. I now prepare the soil 
in the same manner as I would for any 
garden crop, manuring the ground heav¬ 
ily with rotted manure, spading it m as 
deeply as possible with a spading fork. 
About the tenth of April the planting is 
done. I usually plant in double rows 
one foot apart and four feet apart be¬ 
tween each double row, shallow trenches 
about two inches deep are opened with 
the hand plow or hoe, the seed are scat¬ 
tered rather thickly in the trenches, after 
which they are covered about one inch 
deep. The soil is then firmly trodden 
down with the feet over and on each 
side of them. My soil being a sandy 
loam, it is trodden as firm as it can be 
made with the feet. Loose soil is then 
raked in until completely leveled; noth¬ 
ing more is done until the young plants 
are about ready to break through'the 
surface, when the rows are raked over 
lightly with a steel raker. This raking 
breaks the crust on top of the soil, per¬ 
mitting the young plants to get their 
heads above ground without any resist¬ 
ance. Cultivation consists in keeping 
them free from weeds, and superficial 
looseninig of the soil on each side and 
between the rows. This method of 
planting and cultivation has been very 
successful with me for several years 
past. In conclusion, will say to all who 
have met with disappointment or failure 
in the cultivation of the sweet pea, give 
this mi ‘‘hod of cultivation a trial, and 
you wF ^robably succeed. K. 
Pnpagating Dahlias. 
J. H. Piti'adehhda, Pa .—I have quite 
a lot ol fully developed Dahlia roots I 
desir? to plant io three-inch pots to get 
an early start, if when the sprouts are 
noticeable I divide the tubers, can I cut the 
tuber off an inch or inch and one-half back 
of the sprout and insert it in the soil in 
the pot, ant. will it grow? What I bought 
last Spring—pot-grown plants—looked as 
though they hud been cut in small pieces, 
taking care to have an eye developing. 
Ans. —The “eyes” of Dahlia roots are 
not on the tubers, but on the crown to 
which the tubers are attached, so if you 
cut off a part of the tuber away from 
the crown it will not sprout. The clumps 
of roots are divided into convenient size 
for commercial use, care being taken 
that there is an eye with each division. 
Florists propagate quite largely from 
cuttings, but this is troublesome to an 
amateur. We do not approve of divid¬ 
ing the clump too small; we like to plant 
a good bunch of roots, and be sure of 
robust growth from the start. 
A Walnut Crop. —A Virginia reader 
sends the picture shown at Fig. 151. 
There was a good crop of walnuts in I 
that section and arrangements were 
made with the human outfit shown in 
the picture to pick the crop on shares. 
Here they are lined up for the division. 
The nut crop is coming more and more 
to be recognized at its true value. Grow¬ 
ing meat on trees will surely be the 
job of the future. 
Better Fruit 
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