September, 1917 
19 
The trench should be dug two spades 
deep, the top soil being placed on one 
side and the subsoil on the other 
type of sweet pea most worth growing in our 
southern states, frostless (or almost so) sec¬ 
tions, tropical and sub-tropical countries. 
Making the Bed 
A site for the sweet pea garden should be 
selected which is free from the starving influ¬ 
ence of the roots of trees or shrubs, and where 
there will be no undue shading, as extreme 
shade spells spindling, weak growth and cor¬ 
respondingly small, poor flowers. But if pos¬ 
sible, choose a spot which is sheltered from 
strong or draughty winds. 
Dig the ground at least two spits deep, over 
the entire area of the patch if possible. Should 
the subsoil be poor, do not bring it to the sur¬ 
face; but it should be turned over just the 
same. A properly cultivated piece of ground 
for sweet peas means that the soil has been 
moved to a depth of 2'. Manure should be 
liberally incorporated in the soil during the 
process of digging. It should be old and par¬ 
tially decomposed. For light soils, cow ma¬ 
nure is to be preferred, as it is more cool than 
stable manure. It should be well worked into 
the bottom spit and more in the top spit. Many 
successful growers, however, if cultivating the 
rows only instead of the entire area, carefully 
take out the soil in a strip 2' wide, placing the 
top soil at one side, the bottom soil at the other; 
and then after thoroughly loosening the bot¬ 
tom of the trench with digging fork or pick, 
place a 3" or 4" layer of manure or old garden 
refuse in the bottom, afterwards filling in the 
subsoil well mixed with manure. On top of 
this they place another 3" layer of old manure, 
and then a 3" or 4" layer of soil which is given 
a heavy dressing of bone meal before the trench 
is finally filled in. 
As lime is essential to the well-being of all 
leguminous plants, the sweet pea is naturally 
benefitted by the presence of this chemical in 
the soil. Therefore, soils which are known to 
be deficient in lime should be given an applica¬ 
tion, using it freshly slaked and at the rate of 
two or three ounces per square yard. Thor¬ 
oughly decomposed leaf soil may be used to ad¬ 
vantage, especially on heavy land. Bone meal 
should also be added to the top spit, at the rate 
of about two ounces per yard run of row, mix¬ 
ing it well with the soil. Many of the best 
growers also add the same quantity of super¬ 
phosphate of lime (acid phosphate), raking it 
well into the top soil just previous to sowing. 
To insure regular germination and eliminate 
the risk of rotting, fill up the seed furrow with 
sharp sand in which the seed is sown, covering 
not more than 2"; or the seed may be soaked 
overnight in warm water, after which, if on ex¬ 
amination any are found which do not show 
signs of swelling, they should be chipped with 
a sharp knife to give them a start. 
Fall Sowing in the North 
I now come to sowing in sections where real 
wintry weather may be expected from late No¬ 
vember until spring. Here fall sowing will be 
found to be the best method whereby a real 
harvest of flowers may be culled the following 
late spring and summer. Several methods may 
be adopted, and these I give in their order of 
merit, beginning with the protected row. 
Sow 7 about the middle of October, placing a 
w 7 ooden and glass protection over the rows. 
This I call a sweet pea frame. It consists of 
6” to 9” wide boards placed lengthwise 9" 
apart and fastened at either end; over them 
glass is placed and held in position with string 
attached to nails driven in along the sides of 
the boards. Should the weather be very mild 
after the seedlings come through the soil, re¬ 
move the glass; but it must always be in posi¬ 
tion during periods of heavy rains, snow and 
damaging frost. 
Farther north the sowing may require to be 
made rather earlier, according to location—say, 
from four to six weeks before severe weather 
may be expected to set in. 
Remove the frame entirely some time in 
March, according to weather conditions, but 
allow the boards to remain for a week or so 
until the peas are properly hardened off, after 
which a few degrees of frost will not harm 
them at all. 
Another method is to sow thinly in shallow 
boxes or pots during October, and winter them 
in coldframes, setting out the plants in late 
March or early April, according to weather con¬ 
ditions and locality. 
My last method is to sow so late in the fall 
that the seed may just germinate but not make 
sufficient growth to come through the soil. 
In this section (Philadelphia) we sow from 
the middle to the end of November. Sow in 
sand and cover 3". As soon as the ground 
freezes hard (not before) put on a heavy mulch 
Sowing on the prepared bed. For fall 
planting in the north, sow the seeds on 
sand and cover about 3" deep 
Composting the soil with a spading fork 
is a necessary preliminary to refilling the 
trench before planting 
of straw or rough litter, removing it entirely 
early in the spring. 
Although some of the early flowering vari¬ 
eties may be used in the North, I advise relying 
principally on the regular summer flowering 
Spencer type. The following list includes the 
best of the Spencers now in cultivation. 
Varieties to Plant 
King White: a large, pure white self. 
Constance Hinton: a fine black seeded white. 
Elfrida Pearson: the finest light pink self. 
Hercules: a very large deep pink. 
Margaret Atlee: rich rose-pink on cream 
ground. 
Orchid: a fine lavender self. 
Margaret Madison: light blue or lavender- 
blue. 
Fiery Cross: glowing fire-red self. 
The President: the best orange-scarlet. 
Floradale Fairy: rich primrose. 
Royal Purple: rich rosy purple self. 
Cherub: cream edged rose. 
Barbara: a fine salmon colored self. 
Dainty Spencer: white edged rose. 
Doris Usher: salmon-pink on cream ground. 
George Herbert: rosy-carmine self. 
Irish Belle: rich lilac self. 
King Edward Spencer: crimson-scarlet self. 
King Manoel: deep maroon self. 
Illuminator: glowing salmon-cerise. 
Mrs. Cuthbertson: rose-pink standard and 
white wings. 
Mrs. Routzahn: apricot and pink on cream 
ground. 
Rosabelle: finest rose self. 
Wedgwood: light blue. 
Where striped or fancy varieties are admired, 
the best will be found among: 
Senator Spencer: gray striped chocolate. 
Loyalty: white striped blue. 
Mrs. W. J. Unwin: white flaked orange 
scarlet. 
Mrs. T. W. Warren: white pencilled blue. 
America Spencer: white striped crimson-red. 
Do not give the plants manure water until 
they are in full flower, when it may be applied 
with benefit to plants and flowers. I have 
found sheep manure in conjunction with soot 
to be unsurpassed. Place about a peck of sheep 
manure in an old potato sack and put it in a 
barrel, and in another barrel put the same 
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