June 27, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
4? 1 
Sweet Peas. 
WORK FOR JUNE. 
Removing Flowers from Potatos. 
It has been recently experimentally 
jroved that the remova' of the flowers 
rom the maturing Potato crop has the 
■ffect of increasing the weight of tubers 
larvested by from 10 to 25 per cent, 
latterpillar Plague. 
A plague of catterpillars is causing 
nuch damage to the orchards in a large 
listrict of Cambridgeshire where fruit 
growing is the principal industry. The 
rees in many orchards have been entirely 
tripped of foliage. 
-- 
Summer - - - 
- - - Bedding. 
An Effective Design. 
No doubt there are many who are con- 
ldering their plans for the season’s sum- 
ler bedding, and to those who are in want 
f a really effective design, let me com- 
lend the one I am about to describe. I 
ave seen some splendid examples of bed- 
ing during my experience on both a 
irge and small scale, and one of the most 
.seful subjects for the purpose is the Ger- 
nium, and I have been at places where 
-e have required over 12,000 of them for 
edding alone. 
In this design I propose using that use- 
rl bedding Geranium, Flower of Spring, 
rr two of the beds, while in the other 
Design -for Summer Bedding. 
vo, Crystal Palace Gem can be used, 
he inside edging of the design can be 
one with Lobelia and the outside with 
; olden Feather or Pyrethrum, which 
lould be kept pinched during the sum- 
er - In the sketch it will be noticed that 
1 each of the four beds there are dots 
( hree), these indicate where standard Ivy 
:eranium may be planted. Madame 
\ rouse is a good one. These standards 
tould be about 4 feet, high, and well 
aked. Fuchsias can be used also if de- 
red. Miss Lucy Finnis and Countess of 
'berdeen are both very suitable. The 
-sign can be large or small, according 
the situation, and if the beds are newly 
ade this season, they should be well pre- 
ired and manured. If this design is 
refully carried out, it will be found very 
j easing and really effective. 
Albert R. Gould 
” elbeck Gardens, Worksop. 
Before one can expect to effect a cross 
between two varieties of Sweet Peas, it is 
necessary to possess a slight knowledge of 
the structure of the flower. This I will 
now attempt to describe, and as few 
readers may be versed in botany, I will 
refrain as far as possible from technicali¬ 
ties. 
The Structure of the Flower. 
Possibly everyone knows that the up¬ 
right portion of the flower is known as the 
“standard.” Next in conspicuousness are 
the “wings,” equally well known. These 
partly cover the “keel” of the flower, 
which in most cases has less colour in it 
than the other three petals. Within the 
keel are situated, the most important or¬ 
gans of the flower—the 10 “stamens” and 
the “pistil.” The pistil is larger than 
the stamens, by which it is surrounded. 
The stems of 9 of the stamens are united 
for two-thirds of their lengths, but the 
remaining one is free. At the end of 
each stamen is an “ anther,” which is in 
reality a bag containing the yellow dust 
called “pollen.” At the endvof the pistil, 
for about £th of an inch, is the stigma, 
pointing upwards. Before the flower can 
lse fertilized and seeds be borne, pollen 
must adhere to the stigma, which is pur¬ 
posely sticky. 
Self-Fertilization and Cross-Fertiliza¬ 
tion. 
When a flower is fertilized by its own 
pollen, it is said to be self-fertilized, but 
when this office is performed by pollen 
from another flower, it is said to be cross- 
fertilized. It may be said that it is a 
law of nature that cross-fertilization is 
better than self-fertilization, and many 
are the wonderful contrivances of plants 
to effect a cross. In the case of the 
Sweet Pea, the form of the flower points 
to the fact that this end is to be gained 
through the aid of an insect, which, visit¬ 
ing the flower for the sake of the honey, 
alights on the wings, presses the keel 
down by its weight, and becomes dusted 
with the pollen, which it carries to an¬ 
other flower and deposits-on the stigma. 
Cross - Fertilization Seldom Effected 
Naturally. 
Such seems to be the design of nature, 
but when we come to see what actually 
occurs, we find that almost invariably a 
flower is pollenated bv its own pollen a 
day or so before it is open. Probably a 
cross is sometimes effected, but this is 
rarely the case, as is proved by the fact 
that if a row of Sweet Peas is composed 
of half a dozen varieties all mixed to¬ 
gether, seed saved from any one plant 
will all come true to the variety of its 
parent, and will not show the influence of 
foreign pollen. Our seedsmen grow all 
their varieties together in the same field, 
but yet their stocks come true. Of course 
I am speaking now of varieties like King 
Edward VII. and Dorothy Eckford, that 
are fixed. Unfixity is not due to the 
flowers being fertilized by foreign pollen, 
but is quite another question. 
Waved Varieties not Coming True. 
It has been suggested that the reason 
that so many of the waved varieties do 
not come true is that, in this form of 
flower, the crinkled standard leaves the 
stigma more exposed in the early stages 
and allows insects or other agencies to 
effect a cross more often than in the other 
var . ties. Possibly there is some truth in 
t‘ rggestion, but I think that better 
r jus could be given, and there is very 
L. .e ground to believe that the great 
unfixity that occurs in many stocks of 
some varieties is at all attributable to this 
cause. 
How to Effect a Cross. 
Seeing that self-fertilization is the rule 
in the Sweet Pea, those who wish to effect 
a cross must take steps to prevent it. To 
do this. the end should be opened before 
the anthers have burst and the pollen 
been scattered, and all the ten anthers 
should be removed. This can be very 
simply done by turning the standard of 
the bud back and gently slitting the keel 
with a needle and thus exposing the 
anthers. Th^ flower should not be muti¬ 
lated more than necessary, but a tom 
petal is not a bar to success; what is im¬ 
portant is that the pistil should be un¬ 
harmed. With a little practice this will 
be found to be a very simple process. Ex¬ 
perience, also, will teach the stage at 
which the bud is ready for manipulation. 
A bud in which the anthers have burst 
and in which the pollen is free is abso¬ 
lutely useless, otherwise it will be found 
that the larger the bud, the easier it is 
to manage. 
When all danger of self-fertilization has 
been removed, the pollen from the variety 
which it is desired to cross can be con¬ 
veyed to the stigma. This is best done by 
bringing an open flower to the bud and 
just dusting the stigma with its pollen. 
The bud will flower in the ordinary man¬ 
ner, and will, in due time, produce a seed 
pod. The bud should, of course, be 
marked so that one may know exactly 
from what the seed has been produced. 
Varieties to Use. 
Possibly the reader will ask what varie¬ 
ties he should use. This is an important 
question, for if old varieties are used, he 
will only be following in the steps of 
others. L T se, then, the varieties most ad¬ 
vanced in colour, size, and form. Use 
also only those varieties, or stocks of 
varieties, that are absolutely fixed and 
that come every -plant true to type. 
About half a dozen seeds will be pro¬ 
duced, and the plants from these are im¬ 
portant. not for the flowers they bear — 
which are no criterion of the ultimate re¬ 
sults of the cross—but for their seed. The 
latter will produce the plants of which 
notice is to be taken. 
