H1B OARUBNINU WORLD. 
‘5 6 
Ive or six poor colours in mixture were 
to be seen in any sowing or hedge of 
Sweet Peas, which our gardening fore¬ 
bears used to cultivate and cherish. 
Now we should scarcely dare to 
name how many distinct varieties are in 
cultivation under names, but at all events 
349 different names of varieties are re¬ 
corded in the Sweet Pea Annual for 1908 
issued by the National Sweet Pea Society. 
All of these may really be distinct if one 
could get hold of the article originally so 
named, but unless Mr. Eckford is able 
to decide we should relinquish such a task. 
The good work of improvement was 
commenced by the late Henry Eckford 
about twenty-five years ago, and it is 
now being carried on by his son, Mr. John 
Stainer Eckford. No idea of the work 
accomplished can be gleaned unless one 
had a bunch of the puny pairs of flowers 
of vulgar purple and rose, purple and 
white, and violet shades which we, in 
our boyhood’s days, had to care for and 
admire. Indeed, cr.ly their name was 
sweet in the estimation of some) with 
whom we discussed the subject in those 
days, yet we had no better on which to 
lavish our affections. Go into any garden 
nowadays where Sweet Peas are grown, 
and it would appear a paradise to the 
eyes of the old school or the new by 
comparison with the flowers obtainable 
from a mixed packet of seeds in those 
days. How much more can this be rea¬ 
lised on the forty acres at Althorne 
Lodge! 
How has it all been done, brought 
about or accomplished, many will ask. The 
original two flowers have been doubled, 
but the size of the old and puny flowers 
has been trebled or quadrupled. The 
standard has been brought out and 
rounded at the top until the original 
notch has entirely disappeared. The 
original form of flower had a flat stan¬ 
dard, but with the improvement have 
come others with hooded flowers, and 
a more recent race with waved or fluted 
standards. 
More wonderful than all is the evolu¬ 
tion of the twenty colours into which 
Sweet Peas have been classified by the Na¬ 
tional Sweet Pea Society. These twenty are 
primary colours, so to speak, containing 
within their compass one hundred and one 
combinations, shades and blendings, un¬ 
til thq mind reels in its endeavour to 
grasp the limitations of variation in the 
colour alone of an originally very simple 
flower. Only those who make a life study 
of the subject can grasp the endless di¬ 
versity of colour in the selected and 
named varieties. That must be left to 
such men as Mr. Eckford, who devote a 
lifetime to the study of it. 
In practice the method pursued in 
raising new varieties is known as cross¬ 
breeding, a work accomplished with the 
object of combining the good characters 
of two parents. The seeds are carefully 
harvested and sown, and in the following 
season, while the plants are in full bloom, 
the work of selection commences. Worth¬ 
less varieties are pulled up by the roots 
and only the select of the select permit¬ 
ted to develop and mature their seeds. 
The work is repeated in the following 
year, and all variations that do not come 
up to any desired standard are weeded 
out. This may go on for five to seven 
years, until the selected variety or varie¬ 
ties cease to give rise to sports, when the 
raiser considers the variety is fixed and 
fit to be put into commerce without fear 
of disappointing growers who are looking 
for a high percentage of plants true to 
the type, if not, indeed, expecting the 
whole of them to come true. Only the 
pioneers in work like this have any idea 
of the immensity of labour entailed and 
the time in securing varieties of fixed 
character, and better than those already 
in cultivation. 
To give an example of what is accom¬ 
plished and what may be expected, it 
may be stated that two varieties of given 
colours are crossed. These give rise to 
certain results, and the selected varieties 
may continue true for a number of years, 
when sports may suddenly appear 
amongst the seedlings differing entirely 
in colour from either parent dr a com¬ 
bination of their colours. This means 
that 'some of the parents contained within 
them a combination of other characters, 
and the sport is a separation of some of 
these, or, in other words, a reversion to 
some grandparent, and the process is 
designated atavism by scientific authori¬ 
ties. Sporting may bring some beautiful 
colour or shade not hitherto represented, 
or it may be altogether worthless, thus 
resulting in a dead loss to the raiser, who 
may have spent years of labour and 
thought in tending it. The reward is 
well earned when at last an undoubtedly 
fine thing has been realised. Many of 
these hitherto unknown improvements 
have fallen to the share of Mr. Eckford 
since he first began growing them sepa¬ 
rately and raising new varieties. 
One of these improvements was the 
variety named Henry Eckford. The Na¬ 
tional Sweet Pea Society had already for¬ 
mulated rules for the guidance of the 
committee, but the colour of Henry Eck¬ 
ford was so unique and distinct from 
everything that the Society unanimously 
gave it a First-class Certificate and the 
Silver Medal of the Society for the best 
new Sweet Pea in 1904. It was put into 
commerce as a novelty for 1906. In 1905 
the Royal Horticultural Society gave it 
an Award of Merit, which was the highest 
honour for a florist’s flower. Many people 
have tried to describe the colour of this 
variety, but no two scarcely ever agree 
exactly. After looking at it intently we 
described it as salmon-orange, though we 
admit it must be seen for its peculiar and 
beautiful tone to be realised. The accom- 
panying illustration, put at our service by 
Mr. Eckford, at our request, shows the 
outline of the flower. 
Colour, shape and size have all to be 
reckoned with in the production of a new 
variety that will be superior to anything 
amongst the 349 varieties already in cul¬ 
tivation. Length of flower-stalk is also 
a desideratum, and this can to a large 
extent be secured by good cultivation, but 
some varieties have naturally longer 
stalks, and this is due to the foresight 
and to the keen observation of the raiser 
who does the work of selection. The ar¬ 
rangement of the flowers on the stem is 
another important point. When the two 
flowers were made four, these were in 
most cases scattered at intervals along 
the stem, leaving openings between the 
flowers. The object now is to get these 
flowers grouped more close!v together 
near the apex of the stem, so that a spray 
mav form a natural buttonhole nr make 
it more suitable for arrangement in 
• I! 
March 7, 1908. 
glasses, whereby all of the blooms wi 
be seen to the best advantage. It wi 
thus be seen that many fine qualiti 
have to be combined in one and the san 
variety before the novelty can be co 
sidered as having the full complement 
qualities desired in a Sweet Pea. Wha 
ever perfection may be, it is quite cle; 
that we have not yet reached any ide, 
status, and, as Mr. Eckford admit 
there is still abundant room for improv 
ment of the favourite flower. 
There can now be no room for wond( 
or surprise that many people make 
hobby of Sweet Peas and think and dreai 
of them while they sleep, or in the mid: 
of their daily toil are lulled to soft repos 
or contentment amongst the flowers of ir 
infinite dyes and grateful yet nc 
aggressive fragrance. Hundreds wh 
long ago despised Sweet Peas an 
found neither use nor beauty in then 
have now been converted to swel 
the rising tide of enthusiastic cultivator: 
Those who have convenience of any kin 
grow Sweet Peas, and those who are a 
ready warm enthusiasts in the matter cor 
tinue to extend the area under Sweet Pe 
cultivation. 
It is the practice of many to commenc 
sowing Sweet Peas either in August c 
September, and to continue till Noveir. 
ber in the open air. This may be re 
garded as an early commencement, not 
late sowing, for the flowers cannot be ex 
pected to bloom till the following year 
Those who have the convenience of glass 
as well as a garden, make sowings a 
intervals from autumn till February 
purely with the object of planting then 
out when the weather becomes sufflcientl; 
fine to warrant it. The main sowing is, 0 
course, made early in March, and th< 
latest may be sown some time in April 
This provides for Sweet Peas to bloon 
entirely out of doors. They cast thei: 
seed upon the waters, ‘otherwise consigr 
them to the cold earth in the full expecta 
tion of harvesting the flowers over as long 
a period of the year as possible. Under 
such exposure there are such enemies a: 
sparrows and slugs to contend with, bui 
the cultivator is happy in the reward of a 
certain proportion of his Peas coming tc 
perfection at least, though not entirely 
satisfied that he cannot do better. Our 
season is all too short for the enthusiastic 
lover of Sweet Peas, though he may 7 get 
them by one or other means from May til! 
October. In order to get an earlier dis¬ 
play or prolong one, seeds are sown under 
glass, usually in pots, and thus through 
their various stages with great care. 
Sweet Peas are entirely 7 different from any 
other form of popular flower, and to do 
them properly they require a house fot 
their own accommodation entirely. Very 
little heat is necessary provided frost is 
kept out. Indeed, they do not like great 
heat, and must not be forced if fragrant 
and durable flowers are desired. 
People and their tastes arg as varied 
as Sweet Peas themselves, if no* more so, 
and while they 7 eagerly 7 look forward to 
new varieties, many of them still cling 
tenaciously to some of the most cherished 
of the old favourites. Still a larger pro¬ 
portion of them never have enough of 
novelty, and look to the magician to 
supply them with something that will sur¬ 
pass all others in the same class. Mr. 
Eckford admits no finality in Sweet Peas, 
and the race is evidently 7 still as pliable 
