152 



PROFITABLE GARDENING. 



CHAPTEE Xlir. PEAS AND BEANS. 



These are strictly summer crops, that 

 are very accommodating as to soil 

 and situation, and may be produced 

 abundantly almost every^vhere. Witli- 

 out a good supply of peas, gardening 

 is but sorry -work, and the finer the 

 peas, the more we rejoice in the glori- 

 ous summer weather that brings so 

 many blessings with it for both mind 

 and body, Erom the peer to the pea- 

 sant the relish is equally keen for a 

 dish of peas or broad-beans, or even a 

 mess of runners ; tlierefore they are 

 everybody's vegetables, and ought to 

 be produced abundantly as long as 

 the weather lasts to keep them in 

 bearing. 



But though accommodating and 

 profitable, peas occasion a little trouble 

 to produce them well, and especially 

 if wanted particularly early or parti- 

 cularl}^ late ; but it is a trouble seldom 

 grudged, on account of the value set 

 upon the crop, while its appearance, 

 taste, and smell are true pledges that 

 summer really is " come at last." Let 

 me be a little particular on this sub- 

 ject, in the hope that I may give the 

 practised grower a hint or two that 

 may be viseful, and put the beginner 

 in the right way of growing them to 

 perfection. 



Peas like a deep, rich, moist soil, 

 in which there is some amount of 

 well-decayed manure ; they also like 

 charred rubbish, coal and wood ashes, 

 and liquid manure, and as the dif- 

 ference in pi'oduce is very great 

 between peas well grown and peas 

 grown anyhow, the cultivator should 

 not be spai'ing of attention in any 

 way. Let us bcgut with the earliest 

 crops, Mliicli the cottager seldom aims 

 at, but which the gentleman's gar- 

 dener and the amateur must produce, 

 so as to have tliem on the table long 

 before jioor people think of such 

 things. 



Here again we may easily be per- 

 plexed with the number of sorts, but 

 it can hardly be said that there are 

 any really bad sorts of peas ; the prin- 

 cipal charge to be made against seeds- 

 men is, that they give old sorts so 



many new names, and supply so many 

 different names out of the same bag, 

 that in too many eases the name is 

 the only special virtue the seed has. 

 Thus the old Emperor, one of the best 

 of early peas, is made to supply no 

 end of Champions, Racers, and the 

 like ; every seedsman professing to 

 have a sort which lie calls his own, 

 and which, of course, is not to be 

 equalled by any one else's. One or 

 two good sorts are sufficient for any 

 small garden, and with one early sort 

 only a succession may be kept up all 

 through the season by frequent sow- 

 ing. Last j^ear I sowed Emperors — • 

 not the best in every sense, but very 

 certain and useful — about every three 

 weeks. Those sown after the begin- 

 ning of May came into bearing in 

 about six weeks, or even less, and were 

 cleared off and dug round ready for 

 succession crops of cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, etc., in some cases eight or nine 

 weeks after sowing, and the crops 

 were good from first to last. One 

 early sort, and one good marrow of 

 slow growth, will do as much, properly 

 managed, as any small family will 

 require. 



For the earliest crops there is 

 none better than the Early Conqueror, 

 an improved variety of Emperor. 

 Sangster's No. 1 , Sutton's Early Cham- 

 pion, Daniel O'Roui-ke, Prince Albert, 

 and Shilling's Grotto are all pretty 

 equally good; and as a few days are 

 important in the gathering of the first 

 crop, there is every season a bit of a 

 race between these, and a few other 

 varieties, in which the Emperor gets 

 beaten, for it comes in about a week 

 later than most of those just named, 

 The first sowing of any of these may 

 be made in October, and a second and 

 third in November and December, 

 though there is always a risk with 

 those sown before Christmas — frost or 

 slugs may cut them off entirely. Still, 

 as seed costs little, and an early crop 

 is much valued, autumn sowing should 

 be more generally practised than it is. 

 The first sowing after Christmas 

 should be made in the middle of 



