THE RAISER OF THE SPENCER TYPE OF SWEET PEAS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 16, 20 April 1910, Page 43

THE RAISER OF THE SPENCER TYPE OF SWEET PEAS.

The mum* of Mr. Silas ( ole. the gar detier at \lthorp Park, will alwa.v- be connected with the developilient of the sweet pea. for at \lthorp Park original e<| the Countess Spencer varietv. the forerunner of the race having a waved, instead of an erect. smooth stall lard. I llis is Still one of the best of this 1 \ pe of sweet pea. but in addition. Mr. ( ole has raised several others of sterling merit, some of which are in commerce, and others have yet to be dist ribiited. Mr. Cole regards as om* of his tim -t novelties the variety named after Earl Spencer. It is a self coloured flower of

lie Queen’s float (rear view) in which rode the Queen of the Carnival, her maids and panes. A ladies’ band is immediately in front.

a deep orange shade, the inflorescences hearing three and four flowers on strong '•terns. Other notable seedings are Mabel Cole, a yellow-ground colour with a deep pivot ee edge of pink; Lord Althorp. with orange standard and rosecoloured wings, a very large flow er; a maroon coloured unnamed seedling, so dark in colour as to appear almost black; Sea Foam. creamy-yellow; Miss Lavinia Spencer, having a pink standard and pure white wings; <L C. Waud, a shade of red approaching scarlet—the wings are waved so as to almost make the flower appear double; and Althorp White. Mr. Cole described the parentage of the Countess Spencer sweet pea as follows:- The varieties Lovely and Tri-

umph were crossed in 1898. and in the following year a variety obtained from that cross was crossed with Prima Donna. Front this latter cross was obtained Countess Spencer. Mr. ( ole. who may be seen amongst his sweet peas (see illustration), prepares the land for tneir planting by trenching it to a depth of three feet. The seeds are sown indoors in pots, and the seedlings are planted one foot apart in trenches. Farmyard manure is freely incorporated with the soil, but soot is Mr. Cole's favourite manure for sweet peas. The plants exhibit remarkable vigour, and attain a height of about 12 feet. With regard to “fixity," Mr. Cole holds that varieties will come true in their fifth year if proper attention is paid to “rogueing.”

Although this vailety belongs in the darker'-olotired class. the lighter background gives a mas* of tne bbioms .1 >ort of heliotrope tint whic h Is very pleasing. The colour is a varyiim < •-midnation of deep claret and ehocolatc, striped and flaked on a gr »und <»f light ludiot rope-. It presents a beautiful eonibination of tints and shows up wonderfulh well under close inspection ;•* the dainty detailed mat kings are most attr i< t|\« . Senator Spenrer is of the true Spencer form wavy edges on both standard ami w Ings, large, round, fluffy standard, long drooping wings. Both standard ami wing* are marked with the satin* colours and in the saint* way, with a trifle umr»- of the* wine shading In the wings. The stem* are long and theie are usually four good, large, timdy formed flowers on each stem

Mr. Jones is here shown among some of his favourite flowers, which, as may be seen, have made wonderful growth and give an abundance of blossom.