July  20,  1900 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER,  7;^ 
favourable  conditions  was  for  the  sake  of  comparison  just  as  well,  as  the  :  which  a  flower  of  this  character  was  by  no  means  suited  :  but  ffenerallv 
characteristics  were  mainly  normal  instead  of  abnormal  from  super 
excellent  cultivation.  We  should  have  enjoyed  an  hour  among  the 
splendid  trial  of  culinary  Peas,  but  time  would  not  permit.  The 
heartiest  thanks  of  the  society  and  all  lovers  of  Sweet  Peas  are 
due  to  Messrs.  Hurst  &  Sons  for  placing  such  valuable  information 
at  the  disposal  of 
the  committee,  and 
through  its  mem¬ 
bers  to  the  general 
gardening  public. 
At  tl|e  Crystal 
Palace. 
’’  On  Friday,  July 
20th,  those  persons 
keenly  interested 
in  the  cultivation 
and  improvement 
of  the  Sweet  Pea 
were  wending  their 
respective  ways  to 
the  Palace  of  glass. 
Happily,  too,  the 
majority  did  not 
come  empty  handed 
but  brought  with 
them  a  portion  of 
the  abundance  of 
the  Sweet  Peas  that 
perfumed  and  beau¬ 
tified  their  gardens 
at  home.  The  four 
quarters  were  all 
represented  by  more 
or  less  excellent 
flowers.  Some  came 
to  enter  into  cer¬ 
tain  of  the  smaller 
classes;  while 
others  from  ducal 
and  lordly  domains 
brought  their  varie¬ 
ties  by  the  hundred, 
and  fought  many 
a  tough  fight  with 
the  modest  Sicilian 
flower.  The  trade, 
too,  played  a  noble 
part  in  the  great 
display,  and  by 
their  sple  ndid 
■efforts  did*  much 
to  enhance  the  ex¬ 
cellence  of  what 
was  an  undoubtedly 
magnificent  spec¬ 
tacle. 
The  Sweet  Pea 
has  not  the  ornate 
beauty  of  the  Rose, 
or  the  shapely 
contour  of  the  show  Dahlia,  but  it  is  the  possessor  of  a  fascinating 
charm  J  that  may  be  equalled,  but  is  certainly  not  surpassed, 
by  either  of  the  flowers  named  or  any  other  that  might  be  mentioned. 
It  cannot  be  disputed  that  for  many  purposes  of  decoration  the  Sweet 
Pea  is  unexcelled  even  if  it  is  approached.  No  better  exemplific  ition 
of  the  truth  of  this  statement  could  be  found  or  desired  than  a 
proprrtion  of  the  exhibits  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on  this  occasion.  Some 
■of  the  exhibitors^had,  it  is  true,  adopted  a  system  of  arrangement  for 
Fig.  17.— the  CRYSTAL  PALACE. 
speaking  the  effects  produced  were  the  very  essence  of  refined  beauty. 
It  has  been  said  that  Sweet  Peas  carry  their  flowers  on  such  short 
footstalks,  and  have  such  a  washed-out  appearance,  that  they  are  useless 
for  dinner  table  decorations  which  have  to  withstind  the  ordeal  of 
artificial  light.  There  may  have  been  some  degree  of  truth  in  these 
statements  a  few 
years  ago  but  not 
at  the  present.  The 
Sweet  Pea  of  that 
greatest  of  all 
raisers,  Mr.  Henry 
Eckford,  of  Wem, 
whose  portrait  we 
are  enabled  to  give 
on  page  77,  have 
footstalks  of  the 
greatest  length  and 
strength,  and  the 
flowers  of  some  tell 
forcibly  either  by 
gas  or  candlelight, 
and  even  beneath 
the  piercing  rays 
of  the  electric  show 
to  perfection.  In¬ 
sipid  colours  may 
henceforth  be  re¬ 
garded  as  things  of 
the  past. 
Without  coning 
down  to  dryasdust 
figures  and  statis¬ 
tics  it  is  not  easy  to 
convey  to  readers 
the  dimensions  of 
this  exhibition, 
which  had  its  birth 
in  the  trial  grounds 
of  Messrs.  Hurst 
and  Sons  only  one 
short  year  ago.  It 
may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  relate  at 
this  juncture  the 
actual  inception  of 
the  ’’ ^celebration, 
which  so  admirably 
illustrates  how 
great  things  from 
small  beginnings 
spring.  It  appears, 
then,  that  when  the 
Sweet  Peas  were 
flowering  at  Feering 
in  1899  Mr. William 
Cuthbertson,  of  the 
great  Scottish  firm 
of  Dobbie  &  Co., 
and  Mr.  Richard 
Dean,  of  Ealing, 
were  there  on  in¬ 
spection  bent.  The 
one  said  to  the  other  how  pleasant  it  would  be  were  it  possible  to 
institute  an  exhibition,  and  by  the  aid  of  any  persons  interested  to 
classify  the  modern  Sweet  Pea  on  a  basis  that  was  at  once  feasible 
and  easy  of  understanding.  They  agreed  on  these  points  and  forth¬ 
with  discussed  the  matter  further.  Mr.  Cuthbertson  said,  “Now,  Mr. 
Dean,  so-and-so  must  be  done,”  and  Mr.  R.  D.  agreed,  and  promptly 
made  memoranda  thereof.  At  this  point  the  photographer  stepped  in 
(see  page  75),  and  the  talk  culminated  after  various  vicissitudes  in 
