August 3, iy01. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
781 
A Good Food. —Black bread, Onions, and Water 
Melons would soon starve the Englishman who, to 
quote a term recently copied from an esteemed 
morning paper—it is not in Webster’s —" is too 
beafsteakialitious,” and consequently always more 
or less dyspeptic. Yet on this scanty diet the 
Spanish peasant works all day, and dances half the 
night without feeling any ill effects. 
A FINE EXHIBIT OF SWEET PEAS. 
The groups or exhibits of Sweet Peas at the Royal 
Aquarium, on the occasion of the first exhibition of 
the National Sweet Pea Society, were many and 
varied in character. That set up by Hobbies, Ltd., 
Dereham, Norfolk, was distinct in character from all 
the rest, being, in fact, unique as to its method of 
arrangement. Many there were who regarded it as 
the finest and most artistically arranged group of 
Sweet Peas put up in the non-competing section. 
There were other fine exhibits, some consisting 
of Sweet Peas entirely, and others largely mixed 
with other plants, but with the exception of a few 
Sweet Pea Countess Spencer. —This seems a 
variety of unwonted vigour, for every stalk shown 
carried four flowers of great size, the standard beiDg 
of a warm rosy-pink hue, and the wings slightly 
darker. The wavy character of the broad standard 
and wings is unique, and promises to give rise to a 
new type of flower. It was exhibited by the raiser, 
Mr. Silas Cole, gardener to the Right Hon. Earl 
Spencer, Althorp Park, Northampton, and was greatly 
admired by all who saw it. 
Sweet Pea Jeanie Gordon. — The standard of 
this lovely tricoloured variety is pink, fading to a 
paler hue at the base. The wings are creamy- 
yellow, tinted with flesh, changing to blush on a 
white ground as the flower reaches its full develop¬ 
ment. Mr. Henry Eckford, Wem, Shropshire. 
Retinospora obtusa Cripsii. —A shapely, conical 
tree of this variety was exhibited by Messrs. Cripps 
& Son, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. It stood about 6 ft. 
high, and besides being amply and handsomely 
tinted with a golden hue, was remarkably clean, 
giving evidence of its having been grown at some 
distance from the smoky atmosphere of London. It 
was much admired by gardeners at the show. 
Yet there are some among us who look at this 
matter from a loftier standpoint and instead of being 
cast down by the regular reappearance of the garden 
weeds they receive not a small amount of pleasure 
from their presence. I do not wish to be misunder¬ 
stood. A gardener who is the real child of nature 
looks with a kindly feeling on all that springeth forth 
from the soil. He is not less remiss in the duties of 
his art because of his feelings towards the lowly in¬ 
truders that may occupy part of his attention. His 
heart is large enough to spare the common fate of at 
least some of these garden weeds. And who is boor 
enough to decapitate the pretty little Pimpernel, the 
blue or the scarlet, the Centuary, or Buxbaum’s very 
pretty Veronica. 
Many of our garden weeds, notwithstanding, de¬ 
serve the determined attitude which the gardener 
takes up against them on a hot scorching summer’s 
day. The common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) in 
heavy soils is indeed very trying, and if allowed even 
to approach flowering it must be carried off the 
ground forthwith or the seeds will ripen and grow up 
in a short time again seventy fold. The chick weed 
(Stellaria media) is a weed which to properly luxuriate 
specimens of Cocos weddeliana and the necessary 
greenery, this exhibit was entirely confined to Sweet 
Peas neatly arranged in pyramidal masses to break 
the monotony of a uniform surface. Some of them 
along the front of the exhibit were arranged in 
baskets and vases for the sake of variety. From 
front to back they were staged in ascending tiers in 
such a way that the staging was entirely concealed. 
The exhibit was very extensive, and all the leading 
varieties of Sweet Peas were utilised in its com¬ 
position, showing what can be done with this 
extremely varied and beautiful florist’s flower. We 
have seen various extensive exhibits put up by 
Hobbies, Ltd., but we were more taken with their 
arrangement of Sweet Peas than with anything else 
they have staged at a London show. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The Sweet Peas described below received First-class 
Certificates from the Committee of the Sweet Pea 
Society on the 25th ult. The Conifer received a 
First-class Certificate from the judges. 
“TROUBLESOME GARDEN WEEDS.” 
Every good garden soil is productive of weeds ; in¬ 
deed, the richer the soil the more abundant the crop 
of weeds is likely to be. Moreover, the quality of a 
soil or soils has long been regarded as either good, 
indifferent, or bad by the nature of the weeds they 
bear. Doubtless there is much truth in this obser¬ 
vation when taken in a general way. While a cer¬ 
tain soil produces undoubtedly weeds peculiar to it¬ 
self, in many cases the same soil under different 
conditions produces quite a dissimilar crop, so that 
in some instances, at any rate, the crop of weeds de¬ 
pends very much on the state of the soil; drainage 
is a case in point. 
Perhaps, in ordinary circumstances, the most 
fertile source of weeds is a soil's age and loamy 
nalure together with, of course, the all important 
matter of not giving due attention to the ordinary 
means of preventing them reproducing themselves. 
This process is often very trying and sometimes im¬ 
possible where weather and labour are defective, 
hence most gardeners have learned to regard weeds 
as among the higher order of the many pests that 
obtain to sap their lives of much of their wonted 
happiness and good nature. 
revels in soils of the very best quality. It seldom 
comes to much in heavy stiff soils, but where it does 
flourish it may be considered among the most diffi¬ 
cult to thoroughly extirpate. The Shepherd’s Purse 
(Capsella Bursa-pastoris) is a very annoying weed 
in the garden when it gets a footing. It freely repro¬ 
duces itself by seed. Several of the Speedwells are 
also troublesome, especially (Veronica agrestis, 
V. polita, and V. hederaefolia). These are annuals 
and seed freely. The first is a perfect pest in some 
places, and like the Chickweed is very tenacious of 
life. Perhaps the ubiquitous annual meadow grass 
(Poa annua) is the most persistent little weed in 
existence. It grows, flowers, and seeds all the year 
round, and no wonder why it is for ever in evidence 
do what one will to exterminate it. The best remedy 
for Poa is weedkiller. 
In old gardens the annual Nettle (Urtica urens) is 
simply a pest, and it is difficult to know where the 
yearly prolific crop has its source. It evidently 
seems of little matter whether it is allowed to seed 
or not, for no apparent alteration is obvious from the 
most rigid execution. I think that indeed the old 
adage is true in respect of this weed, viz., “ If a weed 
seeds ODce it takes seven years to exterminate.’ 1 
A Fine Exhibit of Sweet Peas. 
