224 



Sowing the Seeds. — Having decided on the distances apart for the 

 rows, and marked them with pieces of stick, a line should be 

 stretched and drills made with a garden hoe, about 3 or 3i inches 

 deep, and about 6 inches wide, then the seeds should be sown, not 

 too thickly, but allowing room enough for them to grow, without 

 robbing each other of nourishment and moisture. When the seeds 

 have been sown, the soil taken out of the drills should be broken 

 fine with a rake if lumpy, and the peas covered with it, and lightly 

 trodden. 



As soon as the plants have grown a few inches, a little earth 

 should be drawn by a hoe towards them, and this should be re- 

 peated as they advance. They should then be at once staked, 

 and as soon as the tendrils appear the sticks will be in readiness 

 for them to lay hold of. Small sticks may be used at first, but as 

 the plants advance in growth, taller, twiggy branches will be neces- 

 sary. Two rows of sticks are needed for each row of peas, one 

 on either side of the plants. In staking begin at one end of the 

 row, put the sticks firmly in the ground, and slant those on one 

 side slightly in the same direction in a line with the row, and if 

 those on the other side of the peas, are equally slanted in an op- 

 posite direction a kind of lattice work will be formed and will be 

 a good support for the plants. 



If the weather be hot and dry, a thick layer of litter spread be- 

 tween the rows will be advantageous, by keeping the ground 

 moist and comparatively cool. 



Quantity of seed. For a row of one chain in length if pints of 

 seed are required, making allowance for a proportion that either 

 will not come up at all, are so weakly as to be of no account. 



Varieties. The varieties of the Pea are so numerous that a mere 

 list of the names would occupy several pages. From experiments 

 carried out at the Hill Garden, for productiveness, the following 

 can be recommended : — Carter's Balmoral Castle, Carter's Princess 

 Royal, Laxton's Alpha, Duke of Albany, Laxton's Prolific, Kentish In- 

 victa. Abundance, Carter's Telephone, Carter's Telegraph, Ne Plus Ultra, 

 Henderson's First of all, Horsford's Market Garden. Landreth's French 

 Canner. 



Prices of seed. English, gd. to 2/6 per quart ; American, 25 to 80 

 cents per quart, according to variety. 



PEPPERS. 



They should be planted about 2^ feet apart in rows, and the 

 latter should be about 3 feet asunder in good mellow soil. 



Quantity of seed. — Half an ounce of good seed should produce 

 sufficient plants for five rows of one chain each, planted at 2i feet 

 apart. 



Varieties. County Fair. — Particularly sweet and mild, being 

 thicker in the flesh than any other sort and enormously produc- 

 tive. Seed, 10 cents per packet, 40 cents per ounce. 



Cardinal. — Glossy bright red in colour ; five to six inches in 

 length, being about an inch broad at the base and tapering to a 

 point. Very sweet and thick fleshed. Seed, 5 cents per packet 

 40 cents per ounce. 



