Inheritance in Sweet Peas William Melville Fleming
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Inheritance in Sweet Peas William Melville Fleming IHHERITANCE I N SWEET PEAS *y William Melvin Fleming A Thesis submitted for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE in the Department of HORTI CULTURE THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA APRIL 1925. ACKNOwTJEDGKLDSNTS. The writer desires to express his grateful appreciation of the opportunities afforded for carrying on this investigation to the seed growers of Cowiohan and more particularly to Messrs A. & S. Matthews, of Weetholme, who gave valuable assistance in collecting notes in the field and to Messrs Crosland Bros, and Capt• Dobbie of Duncan, who extended many privileges in pursuit of these studie e» He Is also deeply grateful to Mr. George Robinson of Royal Oak, who made possible a greatly increased field of study by assistance in reoords on over 80 varieties, many of whioh were not grown in Cowiohan. He would further express sincere appreciation to Associate Prof* A.7. Bares, A.B.; B.8.; M.S. and to Assistant Prof. P. X. Buck, B.B.A. of the University of British Columbia, for assistance in planning and develop ing these studies, and also to Prof. A.H. Hutchinson, M.A. Ph. D. of the same University, whose suggestions for study In genetios proved a rich field of material and made possible the induction of valuable material that might otherwise have been overlooked. To Prof. R. C. Punnett, P. R. 8. of Cambridge University, who has probably done the most original research along the line of genetics In sweet peas, the writer is indebted for furnishing copies of available publications. » 1. INHERITANCE IN SWEET PEAS- INTRODUCTION. During the closing years of the war, Messrs Croeland Bros, laid the foundation of the sweet pea seed growing industry in the Cowichan Valley. TheBe men had "been members of the National Sweet Pea Society while still engaged in the manufacture of woollens in Yorkshire. On coming to Cowichan they continued to grow sweet peas and soon observed the possibilities in seed production. By the year 1919 they had increased their production until they had three acres in sweet peas and orders for seed were piling up. In 1920 they sublet a number of contracts and greatly increased their acreage. The same year, several inexperienced growers secured contracts and commenced to produce seed. During this year and the following year, the industry boomed. The acreage increased until it totalled between 25 and 30 acres and nearly 5° different growers were producing sweet pea seed in Cowichan alone. The seeds grown by the inexperienced growers in 1920 Here sold to British seed houses and were retailed in the spring of 1921. Complaints about the impurity of much of the seed began to paur into these British seedsmen and these were able to trace the source of the mixed seed to Vancouver Island. They looked with suspicion on all seed originating there and as a result, considerable difficulty was experienced in marketing the crop. In 1922 as a result the acreage was very materially reduced, the careless growers were refused con tracts and the more careful growers took all possible steps to improve the quality of their product. It was with the hope of being able to render assistance in securing purer strains of seed that these studies were commenced. Much of the material contained in this article has been gathered from information published by previous investigators and compiled in convenient form for the use of growers. Certain characteristics have been studied * more carefully and the results of these studies have been included. 2. It will be seen that these findings are largely in the nature of a preliminary report. The need for further investigations has "been noted and an endeavor to suggest possible lines which these might follow has been made. 3- HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT. A Native of Sicily. In 1699 an Italian Monk, Franciscus Cupani, sent some sweet pea seeds from Sicily to Dr. Uvedale at Enfield in Middlesex County, England. He also sent some seeds to Caspar Commelin in Amsterdam. One of the plants grown by the latter figured in a famous old botanical work. The Horti-Medici Amstelodamensis published 1697 - 1701. This plant was figured under the title Lathyrus distoplathyphyllus hirsutis, mollis et odorus. Burmann, Professor of Botany at Amsterdam, about thiB time caused some confusion by listing among plants native to Ceylon, Lathyrus Zeylanciue. It has since been established that the sweet pea is not native to Ceylon and that Sicily and Sardinia are the real homes of the sweet pea. Linnaeus gave the Sweet Pea its scientific title, Lathyrus odoratus. The sweet pea was first offered for sale in England by Robert Purber, gardener at Kensington about 173°• Early Types. The original type was a bicolor with purple standard and reddish blue wings. Only one flower appeared on a stem. During the first one hundred years of the history of the sweet pea, only three varieties or colors were known. a) Purple with blue wings, (b) Pale red with white wings. Painted Lady) and (c) White. All of these were known as early as 1731* Early Improvements. The first evidence of improvement is noticed in the catalog of John Mason, published in 1793* He offered black, purple, scarlet, white and Painted Lady. The black was probably a very dark purple as similar varieties are listed by Mawe in 1800 except black is listed as black purple. Page in 1817 refers to a striped variety which we find offered for sale in Carters list in 1837. A litt'le later the same firm offered a yellow variety. One wonders whether this was any nearer the coreopsis yellow than some of our modern "yellow" varieties. Until 1850 select- 4. ion was for color only. In that year, Cooper and Botton listed a new Large dark purple variety. The first pea to present "blue coloring was the "Blue Hybrid" raised "by Major Trevor Clarke at Daventry and offered by James Carter in i860. This was a white variety with a well defined blue edge. It was therefore the forerunner of the Picotee edged varieties. It is said to have been the result of crossing a white sweet pea with the blue flowered Lord Ansons pea. Lathyrus magnellanicus. Between i860 and 1870 from Steven Brown of Sudbury, came Scarlet Invincible the first variety known to have more than two flowers on one stalk. Haage and Schmidt of Erfurt sent out Crown Princess of Prussia (light flesh pink) also with more than two flowers on a stalk. Carter, starting in 1867 with Imperial Purple (an improved purple) by selection over 13 years, was able to fix a reasonably black flower Invincible Black. Recorded Cross Fertilization. In 1883 Invincible Carmine was the first recorded result of crossing fertilization. The parents were a purple and a red variety. Between this date and 1800 a great many new varieties were introduced by Thomas Laxton and Henry Eckford. Worthy of note are Mrs. Sankey (1889) a pure white with black seeds and Lottie Eckford with small seeds, shrunken in appearance although possess ing plenty of vigor. Origin of Spencer Type. July 25 - 19°1# w*s a memorable date in sweet pea history. The first exhibition of the National Sweet Pea Society was held. Further Silas Cole, gardener for Earl Spencer exhibited Countess, a beautiful pink with frilled or waved segments. This was a sport from Prima Donna, a pure pink self. The seeds of this plant were secured by Robert Sydenham and chiefly sent to California for multiplying. The stock was not fixed and after being distributed in 1904 presented almost as many variations as it had admirers. In 1903 Silas Cole showed a new and distinct frilled variety, John *ngman, a rosy carmine and a very similar variety, Gladys Unwin, was produced by Unwin of a Histon and distributed by Watkins and Simpson. 5- From 1904 to the present each year has fceen the introduction of numerous new varieties, many of which are very much alike. There has nevertheless "been a steady improvement in size, color and number of flowers produced on a stalk. Winter Flowering. In 1889-90 Ant. C. Zvolanek introduced the first winter flowering Grandiflora Bweet pea. The grower claimed these resulted from cross pollenation of sweet peas with a common vetch, largely grown for fodder in Europe. In I9O3, he "began crossing his early flowering sweet peas with seeds of the Spencer varieties and "by 1907 was able to introduce winter flowering Spencers. These have "been crossed up with other Spencers until there is practically an early flowering variety for each type of Spencer. Telemly. In the I9O7 Sweet Pea Annual, an account of an early flowering sweet pea originating in Algiers as a sport from Blanche Ferry was given by Rev. Edwin Arkwright. This first plant appeared about 1900 and by crossing with other varieties Mr. Arkwright had produced some 18 varieties of this early,flowering type. This type although intro duced into England has never gained much importance there. Cupid. The dwarf or cupid sweet peas are varieties that grow only five to eight inches high with a spread of twelve to fifteen inches in diameter. The dwarfing has been accomplished by an extreme reduction in length of the internodes. The cupid sweet peas originated in 1893 at Santa Clara, California, on the grounds of C.C. Morse & Co. The plant was found growing among plants of the tall growing variety Emily Henderson (a pure white) Its characters were so fixed that when in 1895 Morse & Co. grew 7 acres of this novelty, none of the • plants reverted.