26 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a crust; so, when mv peas come up this spring. I shall put on a little 

 light drag, and dragged the ground. 



Mr. Morrill: Breed's weeder would be the thing for them. 



Mr. Brassington: Yes, that would be just the thing to prevent the 

 soil from crusting over, and to prevent evaporation. Of course, the pea 

 crop is something that is seriously affected by drouth when it is nearly 

 ready to harvest. They ripen and harden so rapidly that it is almost 

 impossible to harvest them so as to get them into the factory in proper 

 condition ; and if there is any way to prevent that by retaining the moist- 

 ure in the soil, one should resort to it. 



Mr. Reid: How^ are the pods stripped from the vines? 



Mr. Brassington : They have a threshing machine at the factory here. 



Mr. Morrill: How would the old-fashion self-raking reaper work? 

 A. I think it would be just the thing. The ideal implement. 



Mr. Rice: Do they all ripen at once? A. Yes, unless you sow them 

 at different periods, and then time does not always help them out. They 

 seem to ripen about the same time, whether sown earlier or later; but a 

 variety will help you out, and they intend to have at least two varieties, 

 so as to prolong the season of ripening. It is difficult to harvest them 

 in time. 



Mr, Morrill: Would it be with proper tools? A. Perhaps not. 



Mr. Rice: What would be vour second varietv? A. Alaska. 



Mr. Morrill : Have you any ideas as to how to secure uniform ripening? 

 You know that is one trouble, to get uniform ripening. It lies in the 

 perfect preparation of the soil and accurate planting as to depth and 

 width. 



Mr. Brassington: And perhaps you could regulate the depth better 

 by planting the seeds with drills. 



Mr. Morrill : You can ; that is wh}- I asked that question. 



Mr. Brassington: If I had a drill, I would thoroughly fit my land 

 before I drilled in the seed, but would plow the laud in the fall so as to get 

 all the moisture I could, and thoroughly fit it in the spring by harrowing, 

 and perhaps I would then roll them and go over it again with a Breed 

 weeder, leaving the surface perfect and clean, so I could use a mower or 

 weeder. 



Mr. Morrill: Breed's weeder would destroy the weeds and prevent the 

 grass from forming. What has been said brings out one fact that I 

 always like to figure on. i\Ir. Brassington places a minimum net profit 

 on his work of .*i?25 per acre. While that will not satisfy a peach or plum- 

 grower, when you stoj) to think you find that would show that that land 

 was paying interest on |300 per acre for the year he grew that crop. In 

 anv other business, that would be considered a most excellent invest- 

 ment. Any crop that nets you $10 per acre, from a commercial stand- 

 point, is a good thing, and there is something to figure on there. We 

 don't like to talk about |10 per acre, net, in any horticultural crops; but 

 at the same time, any crop that will do that is a good thing. 



Mr. Markham: When pea harvest begins, we talk peas here, contin- 

 ually, all of us. Two years ago the crops obtained seemed impossible; 

 last vear we had a drouth to contend with, which was ])rettv serious in 

 some places, but I am surprised that, with as many raising peas as there 

 are here, more of them do not become as enthusiastic as I do. 



