Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-04-11
HOW TO GROW SWEET PEAS
Will Withstand Much Cold
Weather and Should Be
Planted Early in Sprin

Ioung sweet peas can stand as much !
or more cold than any of our popular
annual Towering plants. In fact, they
can resist without injury early severe .
freezes and grow when thawed out as (
though nothing had happened. Hence
they should be up with the first signs
of spring before real warm weather.
Sweet pea seed may be planted any
time during late fall, winter or early (
spring. They may just as well be |
planted in winter as at any other time. |
Neither excess of moisture nor freeZ-
ing will injure them. To have extra
early blossoms the planting should not
be delayed longer than March in CEN
trail ATTITUDES.
A good way to plant sweet peas is
to dig a trench six or eight inches
deep, fill it half full of stable manure, |
with a liberal mixture of wood ashes
and poultry droppings if procurable;
place about one inch of soil over the
manure, plant the seeds on this and
cover with two or three inches of soil.
Some prefer to dig the trench still
deeper so that by filling in soil to the
plants as they grow the roots will be
deep and well supplied with moisture
for dry weather.
BY planting in late fall or winter
the manure used need not necessarily
be much decayed. The heat generated
by fresh manure will be absorbed by
the cold ground and not injure the
seed; by warm weather it will have
decayed enough so that no injury will
result from burning.
Neither does it matter materially
whether the soil be wet or dry, for the
manure in the bottom of the trench
will keep the soil loose below and
weathering will soften the clods above.
Being vining plants sweet peas need
support when they attain a height of
seven or eight inches. Most any sup
port will do-brush, sticks or strings
but wire poultry netting is the best
material that can be used, since it has
so many, cross wires to which the ten
drills can cling. For this purpose four
or five foot fencing should be used, as
the vines often grow six to eight feet
tall. The netting need not be set very
close to the ground but should be
stretched tightly and supported by,
heavy end posts well braced, as the
weight of mature vines and surface
exposure will test it during severe
storms and wet weather in summer.
Where the garden is fenced with
poultry netting or other woven wire
fencing, sweet peas may be planted
along the inside of the fence and no
other supports will be required. When
thus planted the vines will make a
nice border for the vegetable garden
and the fence will be a glowing hedge
from June till frost, if one has the
time to keep the blossoms all picked,
for the more they are picked the more
will come, but if allowed to go to seed
the vines will ripen and die.
BY planting on the inside Of the
woven wire garden fence we had 1000
linear feet of these favorite flowers
last year, with blossoms enough to
flood the world. Eighty thousand
blossoms were picked in one week and
sent by express to a city friend, arriv-
ing, we are told, as crisp and fresh as
if just off the vines.
Sweet peas respond to good cultiva-
ton, just as all other cultivated plants
do. They should be thoroughly and
frequently cultivated while young and
no weeds or other vines should be al
lowed to absorb the nourishment due
them or crowd the vines from form
ing an even and harmonious mass
along the support.
Although not injured by the cold, yet
sweet peas will not grow and blossom
in the shade, even though soil require
ments be good. 1t takes full sunlight
to make them do their best For this
reason a dense row should be set north
and south so that they may get both
the forenoon and afternoon sun. Dc
not let poultry get at them, for they
like sweet peas better than they dc
corn and will soon destroy them.
There are many kinds of sweet peas
some catalogues advertising more than
fifty varieties, but the. standard colors
are pure white or white and pink
Many others are interesting and some
are extremely beautiful. The color
however, is a matter of taste and one
can get almost anything in the line OF
color he wants. We find Emily Hen
derson, pure white, and Blanche Ferry
white and pink, the best to grow.
There is a market demand for early
sweet pea blossoms, with long stems
and considerable spare money can bt
made by forcing them early and send
ing to city florists. Any dealer vii
furnish instructions for shipping-H
Fl. Sheppard, Allendale, ILL.,