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Sweet Peas 1852

June 18th all alike, young Plants

June 29th No' 4 from top rather taller & stronger

(N B. I cannot find my list of Sw Peas, but I remember the White Pea had paler seed & that was the only difference but I have plenty of seed, & they are said to be in this order in Gardens—

1 Painted lady July 20th Removed stamens scarlet worsted & left exposed (shanked off)

2 Striped

All wonderfully true

3 New Purple July 20' Removed stamens. scarlet worsted (like 1) (shanked off)

4 White. July 20 (like 1) This does set its pod; could some pollen have remained.

5 Purple. differs from new Purple only slightly in wings not being so dark

6 Scarlet. (July 21 like 1, 3 &) differs from painted lady in wings being pale red

(Bees)

July 20 These 6 kinds undistinguishable except by colour of flower: came tru, one wrong.— Striped var sports—

July 21. Castrated & put in bag flowers of 3, 4, 6

July 23d Saw several Hive Bees visiting the Sweet Peas; collecting pollen; they stood on wings & so by effort

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depressed keel, & turning up abdomen, the protruded stigma & style was pressed against its under side, which was thickly coated with pollen the 2 hind legs at same time brushing up pollen towards the stigma & abdomen. Not possible to imagine a more beautiful instrument.— Appeared to avoid my castrated flowers. — Only flowers very fully expanded would yield to downward pressure of Bee.

Must have pollen crossed— These castrated flowers seem quite uninjured; operation not difficult. Mem. Gartner fd. less fertility in his crossed Peas — (Bees)

July 24 castrated 3 flower of 3 vars & marked with dark blue, in order to self-impregnate

July 29th impregnated stigma pale blue thread of N. Purple with poll. of scarlet 6.

all shanked off [do] [do] dark blue of White (4) with of [do] of [do]

 [do] [do] dark blue of Scarlet (6) with [do] of New Purple 6

Aug 10-17 Seen many Bees & many Humbles some great sucking flowers; but they do not seem to disturb the anthers—