Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1884 — Sweet Peas. [ARTICLE]

Sweet Peas.

Probably no othdt common flower is so useful in the garden during snminer as the Sweet Pea, and it is as indispensable to it as Mignonette. Formerly we had but few varieties; now they have grown into something like thirteen or fourteen, every one of which well deserves a place in the garden. It is nearly two centuries ago that the Sweet Pea was introduced from Sicily. In all probability the original form has been considerably improved upon, and it has either sported into new forms or yielded them by means of seed. In later years, new varieties have been obtained in this way. Among the plants raised from seed of any one variety, a new departure has been discovered in the case of a plant or two. Those whose practice it is to grow seeds largely are aware of the tendency in many annuals to break into different characters, and when one appears it is mark ed, the surrounding plants are pulled out to give the new type space in which to develop itself, and the seed is carefully gathered and sown for another season. Sports of this kind are* often very difficult to fix in a permanent character; they will appear for a year or two, or more, and then revert fc lheir original form, to the great disappointment of the cultivator. On the other hand, such sports can be permanently fixed after a few years’ selection, and when the durability of the new character is assured the variety can be sold in the ordinary way. An enormous quantity of Sweet is every year grown for the trade of England. One wholesale house grows annually from twenty-five to thirty acres, producing in a good season from 800 to 1,000 bushels, and several other seed firms raise simlar quantities. The greater part is grown as mixed colors, separate colors being required only in comparatively small quantities. Of late years Sweet Peas have come to be much grown for supplying cut blooms for market. A hedge of Sweet Peas of mixed colors is a very pretty sight indeed in any garden, and diffuses a most agreeable fragrance. The Scarlet Invincible, in conjunction with Tropaeolum Canariense, is a charming combination—as delightful as it is novel. A garden without Sweet Peas is a garden without one of the most useful of flowers that can find a place in it.— Gardener’s Chronicle.