EARLY-FLOWERING SPENCER SWEET PEAS (WINTER-BLOOMING) 
If sown in August and September under glass, they will bloom from November until late in the spring. If sown 
outdoors they will bloom at least three weeks earlier than the summer-flowering type, and because of their extreme 
earliness, a row of these should be in every garden. 
Amethyst. Royal purple. 
Annie Laurie. Rose-pink. 
Aviator. Dazzling crimson-scarlet. 
Blue Bonnet. Clear deep blue. 
Exposition Pink. Rich pink. 
Glitters. Cerise. 
Any of above, pkt. 25 
Grenadier. Dazzling scarlet. 
Lady Gay. Soft shrimp-pink. 
Lavanda. Pure clear lavender. 
Majestic Rose. Brilliant rose-pink. 
Valencia. Sunproof orange. 
White Harmony. White; black seed, 
cts., y 2 oz. 60 cts., oz. $1 
SCHLING’S ELITE MIXTURE OF EARLY-BLOOMING SPENCER SWEET PEAS. A carefully balanced 
blend made from above varieties. Pkt. 20 cts., oz. 75 cts., *4lb. $2.50. 
Sweet Peas and How to Grow Them 
We can all grow fine Sweet Peas with lovely long stems if soil and growing conditions are right, 
and it is within our power to make them right. 
The absolute essentials are: 
First. Good seed. 
Second. Rich soil, deeply dug. 
Third. Early sowing. 
Fourth. Early staking. 
Fifth. Frequent stimulation to insure healthy, 
rapid, and continuous growth. 
Sixth. Frequent use of hoe or cultivator to keep 
the soil loose and porous. 
Sow early. The moment the ground can be 
worked, select an open, sunny spot in the richest 
part of the garden, and when you have decided how 
long the row shall be, apply a thick layer of well- 
rotted barnyard manure or cow manure (3 to 4 
inches thick is none too much) about 18 inches 
wide. Remember that Sweet Peas are deep-rooting 
plants, so the soil must be deeply and thoroughly 
worked. Spade the manure in as deep as the fork 
will go and turn the soil over three or four times, so 
that the manure becomes thoroughly mixed with 
it, then level, and your bed is ready for planting. 
Sow in double rows, that is, open two drills to a^bout 
8 to 10 inches apart and from 4 to 5 inches dpep and 
scatter the seed liberally, but not too thick, (about 
1 ounce to 15 running feet), then cover. The 
brush, or whatever support you wish to give, is 
placed in the center of the two rows to act as a 
support to which the vines from both sides can 
cling. Stake early. This support should be in 
place as soon as the seed breaks through the soil so 
that the plants can cling to it as soon as the small 
tendrils form, for nothing checks the vines quicker 
than to allow them to sprawl all over the ground 
looking for support without finding it. 
Success with Sweet Peas necessitates a rapid, 
healthy, and vigorous growth, and your plants must 
be thoroughly and deeply rooted and must make 
this growth during the cool weather of April and 
early May, so we must take care that the plants do 
not become checked at any time. Usually, the 
latter part of April or the first part of May, when 
your plants are about 2 inches high, they will be in 
the greatest need of your help, for this is the most 
critical period, and success depends much on your 
action at this time. Usually the first part of May 
brings its frequent weather changes—cold rains and 
cold nights—all inducive to check and set back the 
plant. To overcome this, a quick-acting stimulant 
should be applied. Nitrate (Floranid) is best. 5 lbs. 
90 cts. It is quickly soluble, containing 46 per cent 
available nitrogen for the roots to take up. Dilute 
at the rate of a teaspoonful to a pail of water (about 
3 gallons) and pour along both sides of the rows, 
about 6 inches away from the plants. Repeat this 
again in two weeks, but do not touch the vines 
with this solution or you will burn or spot the 
foliage. 
Sweet Peas require moisture and sufficient plant- 
food at all times, and you will find that a top¬ 
dressing of sheep manure or bone-meal, applied 
regularly every two weeks and hoed in, will help 
greatly to produce strong, healthy vines. When 
the Sweet Peas are nearly their full height, and 
when the dry weather sets in, it is well to mulch the 
soil with salt hay or grass clippings. This will pre¬ 
serve the moisture in the ground and keep the soil 
from baking. If watering is necessary, do it thor¬ 
oughly. If you simply sprinkle the top of the ground, 
the result will be that the feeding roots will turn 
upward for this moisture and will afterward be 
dried up by the sun, but if you water thoroughly, 
the roots will penetrate deep into the soil. 
Of course, we all know that dead flowers should 
not be allowed to remain on the vine, for if you 
allow seed-pods to form, they will shorten the life 
of the plant very quickly. The more you pick, the 
more flowers you will have, and remember to 
stimulate regularly and you will have fine blooms 
for a long period. If you grow for exhibition and 
wish to get some real early blooms, sow from two to 
three seeds in small pots of rich soil in the house in 
March and set the plants out in April and then 
follow directions as given above. 
About the only insect that is liable to cause 
serious injury is the aphis or green fly. Being the 
color of the foliage, it often does a lot of damage 
before it is discovered, so be on the lookout for it. 
Red Arrow or Black-Leaf 40 are excellent remedies 
(see Insecticides) and should be diluted at the rate 
of two teaspoonfuls to a gallon of water and applied 
through an atomizer. (See Tool section.) Spray 
thoroughly under and over the leaves until the 
solution drips from the vines. 
Schling’s Superb Mixture of Giant Spencer Sweet Peas 
Carefully balanced, it contains practically every color and shade appearing in Sweet Peas. In it are 
included not only the varieties in our list, but also a good many new hybrids, as yet unnamed, all of them 
producing three to four beautifully waved flowers of largest size to a stem. It is the richest, best-balanced, 
and most up-to-date mixture of Sweet Peas that can be made. Pkt. 15 cts., oz. 30 cts., %lb. $1, l^lb. 
$1.50, lb. $2.50. 
Sanitary Balsam Wool Tree-Bands stop caterpillars from crawling up your trees. See page 109 57 
