March 17, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WOR1D. 
451 
Gold Medal Collections 
— OF — 
VEGETABLE SEEDS. 
Arranged to Produce a Constant 
Supply. 
UICDDC’ ?}fiV Containing Vegetable Seeds n /fj 
TVLUDO SUA) for succession, &/D, 
yUCSSC’ BfW Containing Vegetable Seeds C/ 
91 EuDo QUA, for succession, ej/ B 
ll/f ODC nay ContainingVegetabie Seeds 7/£ 
If £EjUU BvIAj for succession, I / Ui 
UICDDG 1 DAV Containing Vegetable Seeds -t ft /p 
fit QUO QUA; for s ccession, I Lt Dt 
Other Boxes at 21 /-, 31 / 6 , 42 /-, 63 /-, 105 /-, & 210 /- 
each. 
Carriage Free by Post or Rail. 
“ I took 21 Prizes at Mickieover Show on July 29th, 
with the produce of your Seeds.”—Mr. John Naylor, 
Cattle Hill Farm. 
See Webbs’ Spring Catalogue, post free, Is. 
Gratis to Customers. 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
WARE’S 
NEW sRELIABLE SEEDS 
FINEST FLOWER SEEDS. 
Hardy and half-hardy Annuals, 
Eiennials and Perennials, 
Florists’ Flowers, 
Greenhouse and Conservatory, 
Everlastings & Ornamental Grasses. 
Choice Vegetable Seeds. 
Collections for small or large gardens, to give an 
ample supply of well-selected vegetables during the 
year, 10 / 6 , 18 /-, 21 /-, 42 /-, and 63 /-. 
Full particulars of any of the above collections on 
application. 
DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE, beautifully 
illustrated, has been posted to all customers, 
and may be bad free upon application. 
In addition to SEEDS, the Catalogue contains also 
particulars of: — 
New Begonias for 1900, 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS, 
LILIES, 
GLADIOLI, 
DAHLIAS, &c., &C. 
N.B.— We pay cirriage and send packing free on all 
orders for Bulbs and Plants of 20/- and upwards, 
when accompanied by cash. All seed carriage free. 
THOMAS S. WARE, LTD., 
Hale Farm nurseries, TOTTENHAM, LONDON. 
Green Marrow 
PEAS 
FOR THF TABLF FROM JUNF 
TO N0VFMPFR, 
TESTED SELECTION of the very 
choicest successional varieties, to 
be sown from March to June, g ves 
the very best results. 
Height. Sow. Pick. 
Carters' Lightning 2^ ft. Feb.& Ma ch Tay to Tune 
Carters’Early Morn 3 ft. End Marc! During June 
Carters' Dalsv ij ft. Mid April in July 
Carters’Danby Stratagem 3" ft. End April July 
Carters’Model Telephone 5 ft. Mid. April July 
Carters’Model Telegraph 5 ft. End April July and Aug 
Carters’Mxhaelmas 3 ft. May to June Sep. to Nov 
Each, separate price, 2 /- per pint, 3/6 per quart. 
The collection, i pint of each, as above, price 12 / 6 . 
The collection, i quart ol each, as above, price 22/6 
Carriage Paid. 
CARTER’S EXHIBITOR’S BOX OF VEGETABLE 
SEEDS contains 30 packets of all the choicest 
varieties for exhibition or table use. 
Price 10 / 6 , packing and postage free. 
ILLUSTRATED LISTS POST FREE. 
SEEDSMEN TO HER MAJESTY 
237, 238, as 97, 
High Hoiborn, LONDON. 
‘‘Gardening is the purest efhuman pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
ffltf <|i«|4#|0 ijfojM 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MARCH ijth, 1900. 
Whe Sweet Pea after Two Hundred 
Years.— In all probability the Sweet 
Pea was cultivated for some years in its 
native country, Sicily, before it reached our 
shores in 1700. It was first taken from its 
wild habitat by the Italian botanist, Fran¬ 
cois Cupani, who lived between 1657 and 
1711, and was no doubt charmed by the 
beauty and delightful odour of the wilding. 
Two hundred years seem a long time, but 
many other popular flowers have already 
been in our gardens for a much longer 
period than that. By the year 1759, on the 
authority of Philip Miller, gardener to the 
Worshipful Company of Gardeners, at 
their Botanic Gardens, in Chelsea, it 
already enjoyed several names, including 
that of the Sweet Scented Pea and Sweet 
Pease. The Botanical name he quoted for 
it was Lathyrus distoplatyphyllos hlrsutus, 
mollis, magno et peramoeno flore odore, 
Hort. cantab. Thus we learn that Cam¬ 
bridge had something to say about the 
i Sweet Pea as well as Chelsea, Philip 
Miller described a variety with dark purple 
standards and light blue wings and keel, 
and said that it came from Ceylon, where, 
he affirmed, it grew naturally. He also de¬ 
scribed the variety known as Painted Lady, 
which is thus very old, and a pure white 
variety. The wild plant of Sicily was de¬ 
scribed by Linnaeus as purpureus, by 
which we are to suppose it had purple 
flowers. Other authorities describe the 
wild Sicilian plant as having white flowers, 
so that it must have begun to vary at an 
early period, this feature alone being suffi¬ 
cient to stimulate cultivators to improve it. 
From those days till the present is a long 
stretch, and the varieties are now exceed¬ 
ingly numerous. When allowed to be fer¬ 
tilised in the natural way by their own 
pollen, the varieties are relatively very con¬ 
stant, but when cultivators commence cross¬ 
breeding them a great variety of colour 
may result, but reversion to older and well- 
known sorts is common ; indeed, some of 
the old ones are so fixed and prepotent that 
the progeny may, to a large extent, consist 
of these old time sorts. 
The above remarks w r ere brought to mind 
by the appearance of the schedule of prizes 
for the forthcoming exhibition of Sweet 
Peas at the Crystal Palace, on the 20th and 
21 st July next. Accompanying the sche¬ 
dule is a circular also relating to the 
“ International Celebration of the Bi-cen¬ 
tenary of the Introduction of the Sweet 
Pea into Great Britain in 1700.” That the 
Sweet Pea enjoys a wide popularity is evi¬ 
denced by the fact that the names of no 
less than thirty vice-presidents have given 
their countenance and support in favour of 
an exhibition and conference. By some curi¬ 
ous irony no one has yet been found to give 
his consent to act as president on the occa¬ 
sion of the celebration. The general com¬ 
mittee is also a strong body, including 
some forty-two names, all more or less well 
known in horticultural circles, as are the 
vice-presidents. Indeed, so well known are 
most of them that their support augurs 
well for the success of the celebration. 
Distinguished foreigners, Sweet Pea speci¬ 
alists, have also interested themselves in a 
practical manner by offering valuable 
prizes at the exhibition, and several of 
them are expected to put in a personal 
appearance at the exhibition. While the 
latter is being held a conference will also 
take place, at which the history, evolution, 
and properties of the flower will be dis¬ 
cussed. The various types of flower will be 
classified into groups of colours having a 
close relation to one another, and selections 
of the best will be made for the future 
guidance of cultivators. In the time at 
disposal everything, as far as possible, and 
as is advisable, will be done to further the 
interest, improvement, and popularity of 
the flower It is high time that something 
should be done to classify and reduce to 
something like order the vast number of 
varieties now in cultivation. New varieties 
continue to arise in considerable numbers, 
but they should be well tested and com¬ 
pared with existing varieties belore they 
are admitted as decidedly distinct and 
worthy of cultivation, even to the displace¬ 
ment of older sorts. Size and substance 
and form may still be capable of consider¬ 
able improvement, so that cultivators may 
keep these points before them in the raising 
of new varieties by cross-breeding and 
selection. 
Prizes are offered in classes to suit 
growers in charge of gardens from the 
largest to the smallest, from the garden of 
the Queen to that of the cottager. The 
class for 100 bunches of Sweet Peas is re¬ 
stricted to the amateur as distinguished 
from the commercial side of horticulture, 
i so that those who grow acres merely for the 
