86 
been given by the N.S.P.S., and under 
which Mr. Breadmore received the Award 
of Merit of that Society. Elsie Herbert is 
a pale blush Spencer, with a deeper edg¬ 
ing, and has won several honours. Prince 
of jhe Asturias is a Spencer Maroon, 
and, when true, is probably the best of 
its class as yet on the market. Mr. 
Breadmore also offers several other pink 
forms of Countess Spencer, of which 
M. A. Linzee has been very well exhi¬ 
bited. 
Mr. Mackereth'o Finetta Bathurst is a 
selection from Dorothy Eckford and 
Devonshire Cream, its cream form is more 
deeply coloured than Mrs. Collier. 
Mrs. William King is very like John 
I ngman, but, as it is guaranteed to be 
fixed, it should prove useful to -those who 
have not yet been able to obtain a fixed 
stock of the latter. 
There are other Sweet Pea novelties for 
1908, but those named include nearly all 
the best and most important. 
In the contemplation of such a large 
number of novelties, all who have not 
followed very closely the evolution of the 
Sweet Pea will be absolutely bewildered. 
1 will, therefore, name a selection of 
twelve of the best and most distinct from 
previous introductions. This should in¬ 
clude Etta Dyke (i.e., White Countess 
Spencer), Clara Curtis (i.e.,.Cream Coun¬ 
tess opencer), St. George, The Marquis, 
Menie Christie or Rosy Adams, Evelyn 
Hemus, Miss E. 1 . Drayson or Chrissie 
Unwin, one of the creamy-pink forms of 
Countess Spencer, Audrey Crier, Elsie 
Herbert, Prince of Asturias, and James 
Grieve. 
I believe that there are fixed stocks of 
the first eight of these. As .to the others 
I should not like to say, but the last men¬ 
tion should certainly come true, for it 
comes from a very reputable house. 
As varieties, Bobbie K., Princess Vic¬ 
toria, Maggie Stark, and others are equal 
to any I have selected, but are less dis¬ 
tinct from previous introductions. 
The same principle applies most 
strongly to the following selection of the 
best three novelties of the year:—The 
Marquis, Evelyn Hemus, and Clara 
Curtis. 
G. F. Drayson. 
-- 
Forcing- Tulips. A Good Method. 
Having been highly successful in forc- 
ing my 1 ulips here, I should like to give 
readers a hint as to how I achieved that 
success. Procure two or three handlights 
and, providing the Tulips are in 5 inch or 
6 inch pots, it will be possible to get nine 
pots into a handlight of yellow Mon. 
Tresor and a similar number in another 
of white Pottebakker, and also a third of 
Proserpine, rose colour. Place the hand- 
lights in a warm Cucumber house, where 
the temperature does not fall below 
70 degs., then put the Tulips in the 
bottom and fill the handlights up level to 
the top with fresh green moss, which, 
after getting heated, will draw the Tulips 
up through the moss with stems six to 
seven inches high. The general com¬ 
plaint is that they bloom just above the 
soil with no stem. I have had Tulips as 
above since the beginning of December 
with satisfactory results. 
J. Nibbs. 
Hollington. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. February 8, 1908. 
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Ous Swaat ?aa 
This week we present our readers with 
a mass of information on Sweet Peas 
gleaned by two experts during the past 
year in all parts of Britain and elsewhere. 
It relates, qf course, chiefly to informa¬ 
tion gleaned in this country, and, to a 
lesser extent, in America, where also the 
enthusiasm for Sweet Peas is warm. To 
go into details about Sweet Peas in other 
countries might be interesting, but would 
lack utility for cultivators here, particu¬ 
larly those having gardens of moderate 
size. 
Nothing but sheer enthusiasm could 
sustain the efforts necessary to keep in 
touch with the work that is being done by 
the National Sweet Pea Society, its affilia¬ 
ted societies, by wholesale growers, and 
by special trials. Our readers are, there¬ 
fore, indebted to the experts for all the in¬ 
formation got together, so as to enable 
them to compare the novelties with those 
already in existence. The number of 
varieties under discussion is very great, 
and some readers will, no doubt, be apt 
to feel bewildered as to which are really 
the best. We advise them to keep their 
minds easy upon the subject, because no¬ 
thing is absolutely the best, and certainly 
not in Sweet Peas. A large number of 
them are on perfect equality in the matter 
of colour, size and other particulars so 
far as the cultivator is concerned. 
It is clear, therefore, that only in large 
gardens, and where fields are available, 
that all these novelties can be grown by 
anyone. Old and standard varieties will 
still be grown by everybody, as they can 
be depended upon to produce results 
looked for. Readers with small gardens 
should fix their attention on those varie¬ 
ties or colours in which they are chiefly 
interested, and add some of them to their 
collection. There is such a thing as ques¬ 
tion of taste or fancy, and those who are 
most delighted with certain colours should 
look amongst the new ones for improve¬ 
ments in that respect or additions to exist¬ 
ing ones. 
A list of i dozen of the best are selected 
by one expert and both of these writers 
name what they consider the best or lead¬ 
ing varieties of the year. Unfortunately 
some of these are very scarce, and not 
everybody will be able to obtain them. 
In the midst of all this enthusiasm and 
expenditure of energy over Sweet Peas, 
some will find time to consider the other 
flowers and vegetables concerning which 
we make remarks. Besides the novelties 
which we have illustrated, we have intro¬ 
duced various others, and lack of space 
only curtails the numbers commented 
upon. All this goes to show the wealth of 
material at the hands of cultivators with 
which to embellish their gardens or turn : 
to useful account in the shape of food. 
Two Beautiful Swe£t p eas 
Amongst the varieties of Sweet Peas 
put into commerce during the present 
year we shall have to reckon with two 
varieties being sent out by Mr. Robert 
Svdenham, Tenby Street, Birmingham. 
One of these is Mrs. Millie Maslin, which 
has large flowers of rich crimson colour, 
not of the wavy type, but amongst those 
having flat, well expanded and erect 
standards. Peas of this type, we hope, 
will never go out of fashion, as they show 
off their best characteristics when every 
part of the flower is visible, as in the old 
form of Sweet Pea. The great improve¬ 
ment, of course, wrought here is in the 
much greater size of the flower and the 
rich colour of the particular shade men¬ 
tioned. 
The other variety upon which the same 
seedsman lays particular stress is Her¬ 
bert Smith. In this, the well expanded 
and erect standards are of a beautiful 
rich orange colour, recalling that in some 
such variety as Gorgeous, which for some 
years stood alone in its particular shade 
of colour. The well developed wings are 
rose coloured. This variety, therefore, 
would be classified amongst the bi¬ 
colors, and the two shades are so well 
contrasted as to make the variety worthy 
of acquisition. The standafd and the 
wings are occasionally slightly in-rolled 
at the margin, but do not resemble the 
wavy types, of which Countess Spencer 
was the original; We are pleased to note 
that seeds of them are still obtainable. 
-- 
Pea Fidler’s Early Perfection 
The above is one of the earliest varie¬ 
ties of Peas, and being only of dwarf 
habit, ranging from 12 in. to 15 in., it 
is very suitable for sowing on narrow 
borders in sheltered situations, and pos¬ 
sibly also for early crops under glass. 
Under the same conditions it is ready for 
' picking as soon as the well-known 
wrinkled kinds. The pods contain from 
eight to nine Peas of dark green colour, 
and are very freely produced. The flavour 
is also excellent. The variety was recently 
introduced to commerce by Messrs. Fid- 
ler and Sons, Reading. 
