Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-20
POPULARITY OF SWEET PEAS


terest in a subject is when the object
itself is most in evidence. This same
reasoning applies to flowers when the
planting and blooming seasons come
around. OF all cultivated flowers In
Southern California meme is quite so
popular as the sweet pea. Constant
care in the last few years in the culti-
vation for size of bloom and color has
produced a distinctively California
sweet pea that is attracting attention
the world over
only a few years ago the small
flower, parti-colored, low growing
sweet pea was relegated to the back
yard to hide some unsightly garden
spot, and was little used as cut
flower. Today there is no more gen
orally used flower in all kinds of deco
rations, and the season extends from
early spring to late in the fall.
Between the years 1886 and 1899 the
sweet pea craze was at its height, but
the demand for seed was so great that
slipshod methods of growing 1t were
allowed to creep in, and the result was
so much poor seed that amateurs got
discouraged and quit growing the
flowers in the intensive way they had
been doing, with the result that for
FIVE years they hardly touched 1t. The
flower carnivals and fairs fell off-and
it looked as If the sweet pea had seen
lIS uaY, 10 see IL no Aio
fortunately California seedsmen were
most at fauld for flooding the market
with poorly grown seed.
But there were a faithful few who
knew the possibilities of the flower.
The English amateurs did not have
the seed troubles that afflicted the
American amateurs. and the cult was
kept alive across the ocean, the yearly
novelties were sent over as usual to
the faithful few who still clung to the
beautiful flower, and they were des-
tined to receive their reward, for the
renaissance of the sweet pea was at
hand
The revival of the modern sweet pea
is due to the labors of Henry Eckforl
of Wem. England. who began twenty
years ago to put out a collection of
novelties each year which were of such
progressively fine quality that they
started the sweet pea furore as above
described.
The seedsmen and their growers soon
saw what had brought the cessation
of the craze for the sweet pea, and
took measures to see that the seed put
on the market was of the highest quail
ity that 1t was possible to grow, with
the result that once more the sweet
pea has come into the highest popu-
larity, and 1t is grown and shown at
all the flower carnivals as before. You
are safe in buying sweet pea seed of
any reliable scotsman now, as 1t Is
sure to be good-it was to their inter
est to assure that.
At the time of the revival of the
sweet pea by Eckford there was but
one recognized form, that which came
afterward and is at present known as
the "notched" type. Samples of this
type can still be found in cheap seei
mixtures, but the elimination from the
list of the old ANALOGOUS varieties by
all the seedsmenn will in a few years
cause it to become extinct. The first
effort on the part of the early special
lists to improve the form of the sweet
pea was along the line of the elimina-
tion of the notch at the sides and the
top of the standard, which led by Sc
lection to the "re1exed" from which
the notch was absent, but the standard
of which reflexed or leaned backward
giving a stiff. formal appearance to
the flowers which was not at all
pleasing.
Beside the several foreign specialists
Walker of Oregon and Morse of the
Pacific coast were working on a new
type, and all achieved practically the
same result, but Eckford of England
got ii first, and in the beautiful white
sweet pea, Blanche Burpee, produced
the first fine example of the lex
standard of quality as to form until
the recent Introduction of that remark
able break" in sweet peas, the result