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THE GARDENING WORLD « 
April 8, 1905. 
The Finest Sweet Peas. 
(Continued from page 262.) 
For exhibition no variety is more frequently grown than is 
Miss Willmott. Those familiar with its enormous size and 
rich colouring will easily understand why this is so. It is, I 
suppose', the largest of all Sweet Peas, and is certainly the best 
variety in the orange class. Gorgeous is another tine flower 
in this section ; its colour, if shaded, is, I believe, the nearest 
approach we have to the true or ange Sweet Pea. Growers who 
do not mind cultivating a. variety which may be expected to 
prove liable to sport should obtain some very good results by 
growing the orange sport from Countess Spencer. This variety 
is already on the market, and should it retain the size and 
form of its parent, and at the same time be of a good colour, 
u may prove a rival even to Miss Willmott. The novelty for 
which the Sweet Pea world is anxiously waiting is Henry Eck- 
ford; when distributed, this will probably prove to be the 
finest in its class. 
Mrs. Walter Wright is a very beautiful flower, and its novel 
form and great size, in addition to its lovely mauve colour, 
make it a very fine and distinct variety. 
It. is not wise to aim at the increase of the number of striped 
or edged Sweet Peas, but as they are often admired I will 
mention the names of the finest. America is perhaps the best 
of the red and white striped varieties. Jessie Cuthbertson is 
a. close rival. Florence Molyneux, a novelty of this year, may 
surpass both. Princess of Wales is the finest purple or blue 
and white striped flower, and Senator is the next. Picotee- 
edged varieties are as yet but poorly represented. Lottie Ec' - 
ford and Maid of Honour, white with light blue edging and 
shading, are the finest. Dainty, white and red, is also worthy 
of notice. 
Two very fine Sweet Peas are Prince of W : ales and Lord 
Rosebery. These are both shades of rose, but are very dis¬ 
tinct from each other. John Ingman, a sport from Countess 
Spencer, will prove a splendid variety. Royal Rose is also 
very beautiful and large. 
Coccinea is in a. class by itself. In shape it is a model, but 
its chief merit lies in its distinct colour, which is a brilliant 
cerise. Its growth is less rampant than that of most varieties, 
but I do. not consider this a defect. If it were as large a.s 
Miss Willmott, there can be little doubt that it would exceed 
even that variety in popularity. 
There is, as yet, no yellow Sweet Pea ; but the Hon. Mrs. E. 
Kenyon is a fine deep cream. Its size and shape are also very 
fine. 
Bi-coloured Sweet Peas are very well represented by Jeannie 
Gordon, Triumph, and Prince Edward of York. All three, 
especially the two latter, are very large. Jeannie Gordon, how¬ 
ever, is considered to be the finest. It is certainly very beauti¬ 
ful, and, considering its novelty, is extremely popular. The 
standard is slightly hooded, and Is a fine shade of rose, shaded 
cream. The wings-are cream, suffused rose. Triumph is 
enormous, and of good shape; its colour is deep orange-pink, 
with white wings' shaded purple. Prince Edward of York, 
another well-shaped giant, has a scarlet standard and rose 
wings. 
There are many Sweet Peas coloured with mixtures of cream 
and pink. Marchioness of Cholmondeley is, perhaps, by virtue 
of its size, the finest in this class. Two other excellent varie¬ 
ties are Agnes Johnson and Gracie Greenwood. 
Duke of Westminster is an immense violet-purple flower, 
and should rank among the finest. Duchess of Sutherland is 
a good blush variety, and is the best of its class. George 
Gordon is the largest and most desirable of the magenta sec¬ 
tion. 
The last of the varieties which I shall name', though cer¬ 
tainly not the least valuable, is David R. Williamson. This 
is an advance in the indigo-blue section, and should become 
very popular. 
I believe that I have mentioned nearly all the varieties 
which are worth cultivating. There are others which some 
growers would include in their lists, but I doubt if there is one 
really needed by the amateur. Indeed, I would advise all 
growers, especially exhibitors, to make their selection as small 
as possible. All amateurs should grow each of the following 
seven varieties—Dorothy Eekford, Navy Blue, Lady Grizel 
Hamilton, Black Knight, Miss Willmott, King Edward VII., 
and Countess Spencer. Many growers will not need to add to 
these, for they form a splendid representative collection. Re¬ 
member that a few well-grown varieties give more pleasure 
than many inferior flowers. Let' “ the best only ” be your < 
motto, and then success will crown your efforts in the cultiva¬ 
tion of this, the most lovely of all annuals. G. F. Dkaysox. 
Stewing Pears in Spring. 
These are not grown to the extent they should be. It is no 
uncommon thing to find gardens of considerable extent without 
a tree ; this should not be. Nor is there excuse for not grow¬ 
ing them, seeing they may be had from trees grown in various 
ways—namely, on walls of any aspect or height, on woodeu 
fences, espaliers, bush and standard trees. Surely there is no 
garden but room may be found for one or more trees. Some 
of the finest Uvedale’s St. Germain I ever saw were on a big 
tree 30 ft. high in the open garden in West Norfolk. 
This February I saw grand fruit from a big bush tree in the 
gardens at Montacute House, near Yeovil. They were as firm 
as when gathered, and I was told it cropped every year. In 
a garden in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, we used to glow 
Yerulam of the finest on a standard tree in an orchard. This 
and others are frequently found growing in this way in fruit 
districts in the West. 
In Northunts, where the soil is light, we used to have 
beautiful fruit of Catillac from a tree on a north wall in com¬ 
pany with Morello' Cherries; and in the garden I have now 
charge of, Vicar of Winkfield is satisfactory front the same 
aspect, the fruit remaining sound till February. Wooden 
fences make good places to plant them on, and if not more 
than 6 ft. high they may be planted wider apart. 
Some few years ago I planted trees of Catillac and Bellissime' 
d’Hiver on a wall in our pleasure grounds that had previously 
been occupied with very old trees of the true old Golden Pippin 
Apple. This wall is not more than 8 ft. high, but the results 
are most satisfactory. From tlie last-named kind we have now 
(middle of March) fine solid fruit from this tree. 
When these trees are in bloom they are as beautiful as many 
of the other things grown for ornament only, so much so that 
I planted another tree last year. In large grounds I see do 
reason why trees of these should not' be planted for ornamem 
with other things. Their large blooms equal many of the 
Cherries grown for this purpose. 
When at the R.H.S. Gardens at Wisley early in October, 
trees of red Apples and Peaches were most, beautiful in fruit 
in this way. 
I am aware that many are deterred from planting on the 
ground of their shy cropping, but these are not more so than 
Blenheim Orange, Bees Pool and other standard Apples. Bui 
much may be done to bring these into early bearing by root 
lifting, and this is best accomplished by doing one half of the 
roots at a time, bringing them near the surface. This corrects 
the coarse-growing wood. 
Some people say they are satisfied to use the big, coarse 
dessert, kinds for this purpose. I know they are useful, but- 1 
have never found them approach the stewing kinds for flavour 
Added to. this, these latter keep so much better and come in at 
a time (in spring) when other fruits are veiy scarce, and few 
things equal them at this season. Con. 
Adoxa Moschatei.lina. —The botanist who named this plant 
was not very particular nor discriminating if he really thought 
its scent resembled that of Musk. The scent, or, rather, heavy 
odour, more closely resembles that of Scoliopus Bigelovii than 
anything else we remember. The odour intensifies for sonit 
days after the plant has been gathered. 
