Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-20

Ger. and is probably the most remark
able floral hybrid ever produced, for
it has proved to be the mother of
new race, which are exact duplicates
in a higher type of flower of the older
expanded forms. For instance, when
the Countess Spencer was first caught
it was supposed that 1t was simply
variety, and If a seed of 1t was planted
it would simply reproduce the same
variety. But from the first 1t has been
erratic. From the planting of one see
might be produced fifteen which when
planted would produce from ten to
fifteen different colors and shades, all
matchable with we'll known varieties
but Of the Countess Spencer type.
These when planted might reproduce
their kind or run the gamut of the
colors and shades, so you can see what
a deal of selection was involved in
producing seed that would come tire.
In fact, we have very little of 1t yet,
as 1t all sports" to some extent. But
it is a question of time only until 1t
will all be selected up to trueness of
name, and you can get your favorite
flower in sweet peas in the Countess
Spencer type. However, from the
Countess Spencer 'break" there have
come some new varieties which Will.
delight all lovers of sweet peas as
they are put on the market from year
to year.
Among sweet pea lovers there are
several we'll defined classes. There Is
the collector who aims to have rev
feet of rows of every known variety,
commercial as well as the private nov
elites of the diffedrent specialists, AMI
who adds each year the introductions
of all the growers in both this coun-
try and Europe. A collection of sweet
peas has an educational value only as
a basis for comparison for the student
of the cult. The connoisseur grows
only the finest of each color or type.
and makes critical study of each
years intruductions in order to com
pare them with previous ones, so as t.
place them as to relative merits. He
usually grows but one or two OF each
color class, and drops any of them on
the appearance Of a new one which ne
thinks displaces It, This latter class
of sweet pea enthusiast has made the
sweet pea what 1t is. and to him the
seedsmen are indebted for the most
valuable criticisms they receive. and
the condemnation of the connoisseurs
will practically kill an introduction
There are many written treatises on
the culture of the sweet pea, some OF
which are fairly good, but it has taken
the experience of the expert amateurs
to disclose just what is the bes'
method The modified trench system
is the most preferred. The soil shoul1
be fine and friable, well enriched the
previous fall and summer, and dug
in deep. for 1t is fact that we'll
grown sweet pea vine will produce
roots eighteen inches long in a deep,
loamy soil. The soil must have plenty
of humus in 1t and be well drained.
There has been a great deal of dis
cussion in the English horticultural
papers as to the relative merits of wide
and close planting. Some of the Eng
lish seedsmen advise planting eighteen
inches apart. one row in a trench,
while the custom among our best
American growers is to plant in double
rows four inches apart. and four
inches apart in the row. 1t is quite
likely that the moist climate of Eng
land requires wider planting, as tend
ing to the growth of more vine AMI
root than in our hot dry summer cl-
mate. When the vines are grown up
to and are attached to the supports
fill the trenches level with soil, and
tread it hard and keep a straw mulch
in feeding during the blooming period.
Give plenty of water.
There are many clever writers on
the cultivation of sweet peas, who give
their practical experiences as well as
the results of others. and in this class
probably the best known is Samuel
Armstrong Hamilton.
California has the ideal soil and cIi-
mate for sweet pea culture, and now