July  25,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
79 
L.  Sibthorpi  ?  Mr.  Kicholson  makes  L.  grandiflorus  an  annual 
variety,  but  Mr.  Robinson  a  perennial. 
The  blue  annual  form  of  L.  sativus,  known  In  seed  catalogues  as 
L.  coeruleus  or  ezureus  (or  Lord  Anson’s  Pea,  which  it  is  not,  as  the 
true  Lord  Anson’s  Pea  is  L.  magellanicus),  has  been  UBed  in  various 
ways  for  cross-fertilising  purposes  in  order  to  get  its  tint  of  blue  into 
both  the  perennial  and  annual  sweet-scented  varieties,  but  without 
appreciable  result.  When  this  blue  form  is  sown  in  the  autumn,  and 
is  grown  on  in  pots  for  flowering  in  spring,  then  its  peculiar  beauty  is 
seen  far  beyond  what  is  displayed  when  the  seeds  are  sown  in  the 
open  air  in  spring.  The  annual  L.  tingitanus  or  Tangier  Pea,  with  its 
large  purple  and  bright  red  flowers,  is  also  an  interesting  species. 
Lathyrus  odoratus. 
The  name  of  Henry  Eckford  will  be  associated  with  the  improve¬ 
ment  in  the  Sweet  Pea  for  generations  to  come.  It  is  not  without 
significance  that  we  should  have  been  cultivating  five  or  six  varieties 
of  Sweet  Peas  for  over  a  century  and  a  half  before  any  serious  attempt 
was  made  to  cross-fertilise  this  popular  annual.  In  1860  James 
Carter  of  Holborn  offered  a  variety  named  Blue-edged,  twenty  years 
afterwards  it  was  known  as  Blue  Hybrid,  and  it  was  understood  to 
have  been  a  true  hybrid  between  the  annual  white  Sweet  Pea  and 
the  perennial  Lord  Anson’s  Blue.  It  was  the  outcome  of  a  series  of 
experiments  made  with  the  object  of  raising  a  real  blue  flowered 
variety  by  Col.  Trevor  Clarke  of  Daventry.  In  1880  Messrs.  Sutton 
and  Sons  offered  a  variety  named  Butterfly,  which  greatly  resembled 
the  Blue  Hybrid.  In  1865  Mr.  Stephen  Brown  of  Sudbury  received  a 
certificate  of  merit  for  Invincible  Scarlet,  a  selection  from  the  old 
scarlet.  About  the  same  time  a  variety  named  Crown  Princess  of 
Prussia  was  distributed  from  Germany,  and  it  proved  a  novel  and 
distinct  variety.  It  was  sent  out  by  Messrs.  Haage  &  Schmidt, 
Erfurt.  In  1873-74  the  same  firm  distributed  Fairy  Queen,  and  in 
the  same  year  a  lilac  variety,  which,  however,  did  not  succeed  in 
taking  a  position  among  varieties.  In  1880  Messrs.  Carter  &  Co. 
sent  out  Violet  Queen,  certainly  distinct  in  colour,  but  lacking  quality 
of  bloom.  Adonis  was  offered  by  the  same  firm  in  1882,  but  this 
was  displaced  in  1883  by  the  New  Carmine  Rose,  afterwards  renamed 
Princess  Beatrice,  and  to  this  day  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
beautiful  of  the  rose  section.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  S.  B.  Dicks  for 
some  of  the  foregoing  information. 
It  was  about  1880  that  Eckford  began  his  experiments  in  cross- 
fertilising  the  Sweet  Pea.  I  was  all  the  more  interested  in  his  work, 
because  he  had  commissioned  me  to^btain  for  jhim  all  the  varieties 
of  named  Sweet  Peas  procurable.  In  1887  Eckford  obtained 
certificates  for  Mauve  Queen,  Primrose,  and  Splendour  ;  since  then 
many  awards  have  been  made  to  his  new  varieties,  though  now,  so  far 
as  the  practice  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  is  concerned,  it  is 
customary  to  make  an  award  to  the  strain  rather  than  to  distinct 
varieties. 
Among  English  growers  the  name  of  Laxara  will  always  be  held 
in  honour  by  lovers  of  the  Sweet  Pea,  and  the  same  of  Burpee  in  the 
United  States  of  America  must  be  held  in  similar  honour,  for  the  firm 
of  Walter  Burpee  &  Co.  have  been  the  means  of  sending  some 
beautiful  American  varieties  to  this  country.  We  also  owe  the 
introduction  of  the  Cupid  varieties  to  the  firm  of  Messrs.  W.  Atlee, 
Burpee  &  Co.  They  are  a  singularly  dwarf  section,  but  it  can 
scarcely  be  said  they  have  become  favourites  in  this  country.  The 
tendency  to  shed  their  flowers  before  expansion  is  one  of  their  chief 
faults ;  still  they  may  be  made  to  serve  certain  purposes  in  the  garden, 
and  in  consequence  will  be  cultivated.  There  are  now  nearly  a  dozen 
varieties. — Richard  Dean,  V.M.H. 
SWEET  PEAS. 
Sweet  Peas. — To  know  how  far  to  go  and  when  to  stop  in  the 
arranging  of  floral  decorations,  is  one  of  the  most  essential  qualifications 
of  the  person  who  attempts  the  art,  and  with  no  flowers  more  so  than 
the  lovely,  yet  fragile  Sweet  Peas.  We  watched  Mr.  Percy  Waterer 
of  Fawkham,  Kent,  setting  up  his  exhibit  at  Chiswick  last  week, 
which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  tastefully  blended 
colour  harmonies  and  contrasts,  in  Sweet  Peas,  the  majority  of  us  have 
ever  seen,  and  it  was  there  noted  that  he  removed  some  Gypsophila 
that  had  tentatively  been  placed  along  the  front  edge,  because  good 
taste  at  once  conveyed  the  impression  that  such  an  addition  detracted 
from,  rather  than  aided,  the  pleasing  effect.  The  flowers  were  set  up 
in  ample  bunches,  placed  at  equal  distances  and  plenty  of  space  on  all 
sides,  above  a  pale,  greenish  yellow  material  of  exceedingly  soft 
texture,  which  was  draped  over  the  stage  on  which  the  glasses  were 
arranged.  The  size  of  the  flowers  was  much  above  the  average.  The 
varieties  were  chiefly  Blanche  Burpee,  Lovely,  Black  Knight,  Miss 
Willmott,  Salopian,  Prima  Donna,  Emily  Eckford,  Oriental,  Golden 
Gate,  Chancellor,  America,  Prince  of  Wales,  Mars,  Countess  of  Powis, 
and  Lady  Grizel  Hamilton.  We  reiterate  what  our  representative  said 
in  his  report  last  week  on  page  60,  “  Each  bunch  was  undoubtedly 
developed  for  all  it  was  worth  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  finer  individual 
blooms  have  ever  been  seen.”  The  exhibit  was  accorded  a  silver- 
gilt  Flora  medal. 
MR.  WATERER’ 
