100 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  2,  1900. 
shape  required  carried  in  the  mind’s  eye.  It  will  then  be  found  that 
by  disbudding  when  the  tree  is  starting  into  growth  little  use  of  the 
knife  will  be  required,  the  whole  of  the  arranging  of  the  branches 
being  done  by  disbudding  early  in  the  season,  and  a  little  later  by 
pinching  the  most  vigorous  shoots. — {Paper  read  at  the  WoJcing 
Horticultural  Society  by  Mr.  G.  Carpenter,  West  Hall,  Byfleet.) 
(To  be  concluded.) 
A  Glance  at  Sweet  Peas. 
The  hardy  annual  of  the  year  is  undoubtedly  the  Sweet  Pea.  The 
week  of  July  hot  weather  soon  advanced  the  plants  into  bloom,  the 
recent  rains  having  given  them  a  healthy  and  strong  appearance, 
and  the  week  preceding  the  Crystal  Palace  Conference  and  Exhibition 
to  celebrate  the  bicentenary  of  the  introduction  of  this  favourite  and 
dainty  flower  could  scarcely  have  been  a  better  one  to  bring  on  the 
blooms  to  perfection.  We  are  now  enjoying  its  exquisite  perfume,  and 
feasting  on  the  numerous  colours  and  shades  produced  by  Sweet 
Peas.  The  best  selections  are  free-flowering,  and  bear  flowers 
extremely  charming,  of  good  shape,  large  size,  interesting  and  brilliant 
hues. 
Among  the  mixed  unnamed  varieties  of  Sweet  Peas  there  are  many 
of  superb  and  charming  excellence.  For  general  purposes  these 
varieties  do  as  well  as  the  more  carefully  selected.  The  only  thing 
is  that  when  sowing  them  one  does  not  know  what  colours  will  be 
produced ;  but  in  a  properly  mixed  selection  one  may  depend  on  a 
proper  proportion  of  every  colour,  shade,  and  mixture  known. 
The  named  varieties  are  exceptionally  numerous,  and  those  who 
grow  them  are  a'uply  rewarded  in  having  flowers  of  a  chaste  and 
attractive  character.  The  white  varieties  are  exceedingly  popular — 
Blanche  Burpee  and  Mrs.  Sankey  are  admirable  varieties  of  exquisite 
form ;  Emily  Henderson  is  also  a  good  pure  white  with  broad  erect 
standards ;  Queen  of  England  may  also  be  included  as  a  flower  of  good 
substance.  Those  who  care  for  dwarf  Sweet  Peas  should  grow  White 
Cupid,  which  only  attains  to  the  height  of  8  inches.  Opinions  vary 
considerably  as  to  the  merits  of  such  miniatures  in  growth,  and  wi'h 
some  they  are  not  satisfactory.  There  is  a  pink  variety  the  same  size 
named  Pink  Cupid.  A  good  representative  yellow  is  Primrose  Queen. 
Among  shades  of  red  one  of  the  largest  flowered  varieties  is  Her 
Majesty ;  the  flowers  have  bright  rose  standards  and  pale  rose  wings. 
Cardinal  is  a  rich  crimson  scarlet;  Firefly  a  glowing  crimson.  The 
red  striped  varieties  are  exceedingly  pretty.  Queen  of  the  Isles  is 
striped  bright  scarlet;  Mrs.  J.  Chamberlain  rose  striped.  Blue  and 
purple  striped  are  among  the  most  effective.  Princess  of  Wales  is 
shaded  and  striped  mauve  on  a  white  ground,  rendering  this  variety 
very  pretty.  Duke  of  Westminster  is  an  excellent  new  variety,  very 
vigorous  and  free-flowering,  one  of  the  handsomest  sorts  recently 
introduced,  the  flowers  being  rosy  purple.  Other  purple  and  maroon 
varieties  are  Stanley,  chocolate  purple ;  Dorothy  Tennant,  rosy  mauve, 
very  attractive  and  distinct.  Indigo  King  is,  as  its  name  implies,  of 
a  rich  indigo  blue  ;  and  Boreatton  is  a  very  dark  maroon,  similar  to 
Wallflowers  in  colour. 
Blues  of  various  shades  are  well  represented  in  several  excellei  t 
varieties.  Princess  May  is  a  pretty  lavender  or  pale  heliotrope  tint. 
Countess  of  Radnor,  a  mauve  blue.  Emily  Eckford  is  almost  a  true 
blue  variety.  Countess  Cadogan  has  standards  of  a  bright  shining 
violet,  overlaid  with  a  light  sky  blue.  The  wings  are  a  pure  sky 
blue.  Pink  and  rose  coloured  varieties  form  another  interesting  class 
of  colours.  Princess  Beatrice  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  popular 
varieties  in  this  colour,  being  largely  grown  as  a  separate  colour 
because  of  its  effective  qualities  when  massed  together,  either  growing 
on  the  plants  or  as  cut  blooms.  The  variety,  Apple  Blossom,  has  rose 
standards  and  blush  wings.  The  flowers  are  large.  Cottage  Maid  is 
similar  in  colour  to  the  preceding,  the  combination  of  rose  and  blush 
being  very  chaste.  The  same  association  of  colours  appears  in  Mis. 
Gladstone,  Lady  Penzance  has  flowers  of  good  substance  and  ot  a 
dazzling  pink.  One  of  the  newest  pinks,  the  Hon.  F.  Bouverie,  has 
flowers  of  very  good  shape  and  substance;  the  standards  are  a  beautiful 
coral  pink,  the  wings  a  light  pink.  Orange  Pink  should  also  be  men¬ 
tioned  as  a  superior  variety,  the  standards  I  eing  bright  orange  pink, 
flushed  scarlet,  and  the  wings  a  rose  pink.  Blanche  Ferry  is  a  brilliant 
pink,  shaded  white. 
The  best  strains  of  Sweet  Peas  are  undoubtedly  the  giant  flowered. 
The  stalks  or  sprays  bear  as  many  as  four  flowers,  and  these  are  of 
larger  size  than  it  is  customary  to  see  in  the  older  varieties.  Con¬ 
stantly  selecting  the  best  and  most  superior  blossoms  borne  on  the  best 
plants  has  resulted  in  fixing  a  superior  strain.  In  addition  to  the 
large  size  of  the  blooms,  and  their  superb  variety  of  colours,  they  ha^  e 
mostly  the  advantage  of  having  long  footstalks.  This  enables  them 
to  be  used  most  effectively  for  table  decorations,  to  which  use  they  are 
specially  adaptea  because  of  their  light  and  graceful  character.  The 
delicious  perfume  which  is  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  Sweet 
Peas  has  not  been  lost  in  the  advance  in  size  and  improvement  in 
diversity  of  colour.  To  lose  that  would  indeed  be  a  misfortune.  The 
blossoms  associate  well  with  other  flowers.  Their  introduction  into 
a  bouquet  or  arrangement  of  mixed  flowers  always  improves  the 
appearance,  especially  if  deftly  placed  and  not  too  many  employed. 
A  few  rows  or  clumps  of  Sweet  Peas  grown  in  good  soil  are 
usually  so  prolific  in  flowering  that  there  are  blooms  in  plenty,  both 
for  cutting,  for  house  decoration,  and  remaining  on  the  plants  to 
embellish  the  garden ;  but  tins  point  must  be  noted,  that  allowing- 
seed  pods  to  remain  will  speedily  check  the  further  production  of 
flowers.  It  may  entail  some  trouble  to  cut  off  the  seed  pods  from  a 
large  number  of  plants,  but  it  is  essential  to  prolong  the  display.  Of 
course  the  flowers  may  be  cut  earlier,  but  when  the  plants  are  used 
solely  for  garden  decoration  the  blooms  remain  as  long  as  possible. 
This  may  be  done  without  detriment  if  clipped  off  as  soon  as  over. 
Another  matter,  in  order  to  continue  the  present  brilliant  display,  is  to 
maintain  the  roots  moist.  This  may  be  effected  by  frequent  watering ; 
but  a  better  plan  is  that  of  affording  first  a  liberal  watering,  enough  to 
well  moisten  the  roots  and  surrounding  soil,  and  then  lay  down  &. 
proportionately  liberal  mulching  of  manure,  to  prevent  the  rapid 
evaporation,  which  is  certain  to  occur.  This  process  has  the  good 
effect  of  lessening  the  labour  of  watering,  and  at  the  same  time 
benefiting  the  plants.  Further  watering,  especially  in  dry  weather,,, 
will  be  needed,  as  much  nutriment  is  drawn  from  the  soil.  The  water 
may  be  applied  over  the  mulching.  Liquid  manure  will  also  be 
nece.«sary,  and  can  be  given  in  the  same  way.  Soot  water  and  the 
drainings  from  farmyards  and  stables,  given  in  a  diluted  state  if 
strong,  may  be  used.  Guano  is  useful,  as  well  as  top-dressings  of  some 
general  artificial  fertiliser,  sprinkled  on  the  surface  and  washed  in. 
Keep  the  rows  clear  of  weeds,  which  not  only  choke  legitimate 
growth,  but  prevent  due  quantities  of  air  circulating  about  the  plants. 
— E.  D.  S. 
Artistic  Arrangements  of  Sweet  Peas. 
In  the  superb  exhibition  of  Sweet  Peas  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and 
of  which  we  gave  a  complete  report  in  our  last  issue,  it  was  observable 
both  in  the  competitive  and  non-competitive  section  that  attempts 
had  been  made  to  produce  an  artistic  effect.  Some  of  the  most  skilful 
efforts  were  rewarded  with  delightful  results,  but,  unfortunately,  all 
were  not  alike  successful.  There  were,  however,  sufficient  attractive 
combinations  to  demonstrate  to  visitors  how  peculiarly  the  Sweet  Pea 
is  adapted  for  this  purpose,  and  the  natural  outcome  will  be  their  much 
more  frequent  use  for  home  adornment  in  the  future.  We  are  enabled 
to  place  before  our  readers  a  photographic  reproduction  (fig.  29,  page 
101)  of  a  corner  in  the  exhibition,  in  which  Messrs.  Jones  &  Sons, 
Shrewsbury,  N.  Davis,  Framfield,  and  F.  C.  Fowle,  Teignmouth, 
staged  some  very  attractive  exhibits,  that  were  both  admired  and 
criticised  by  visitors  as  well  as  experts.  In  fig.  31,  page  109,  our 
artist  gives  readers  ot  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  his  ideas  of  one 
or  two  modern  varieties,  which,  if  sufficiently  large,  are  scarcely  up 
to  the  form  required  by  the  classification  committee. 
- - - 
I(erbaceoiis  Calceolarias. 
Those  who  intend  undertaking  the  cultivation  of  the  above  for 
display  of  bloom. next  season  must  commence  operations  without  further 
delay,  and  should  acknowledge  at  the  outset  that  to  be  successful  in 
their  culture  no  haphazard  system  will  avail,  for  from  the  time  of 
sowing  the  seed  until  the  flowering  season  is  over  they  must  have 
unremitting  attention.  Calceolarias  will  not  endure  at  any  time 
extreme  variations  of  temperature.  Cool,  moist,  airy  treatment  is 
what  they  require,  with  plenty  of  light,  but  shade  from  the  rays  of 
the  sun  at  all  stages  of  growth  is  essential. 
Sowing  Seed. 
Seeds  may  be  sown  from  May  until  August,  but  preference  should 
be  given  to  one  made  in  June,  the  plants  raised  from  this  sowing,  in  my 
opinion,  producing  more  robust  and  therefore  quicker  growing  plants 
than  is  obtained  from  the  early  or  late  one.  Pans  for  the  reception  of 
the  seed  will  be  found  more  suitable  than  pots.  They  must  be  perfectly 
clean  and  thoroughly  well  drained,  covering  the  crock  with  a  layer  of 
moss  to  prevent  the  fine  soil  washing  down  among  the  drainage.  Fill 
them  with  a  mixture  of  finely  sifted  loam  and  leaf  soil  in  equal  parts,  to 
which  should  be  added  a  small  quantity  of  wood  ashes  and  sufficient  sand 
to  keep  it  in  an  open  condition.  It  will  be  found  advisable  to  water 
through  a  very  fine  rose,  afterwards  allowing  the  pans  to  remain  an 
hour  or  so  prior  to  sowing  the  seeds.  Everything  now  being  in  readiness 
open  the  packet  carefully  and  distribute  the  minute  seeds  evenly  over 
the  surface,  slightly  press  down,  and  cover  with  a  very  little  fine  soil.. 
Now  take  the  pan  and  stand  in  cold,  shaded  frame  behind  a  north  walk 
