AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
37 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
Pea—continued. 
beneath the surface. Some cultivators prepare trenches, 
in which such manure is laid at the bottom, and covered 
in with the soil previously taken out. For main and late 
crops, this plan has been found very successful, because 
by it the roots are provided with an extra amount of 
nutriment and moisture at a time when they most re- 
quire it. Efficient drainage is, however, important, and 
the surface should be kept open for the reception of 
all the rainwater available. The treatment varies some- 
what with the seasons, the time when the seeds of suc- 
cessional crops are sown, and when they are intended 
to come to perfection. For the earliest supply, a warm, 
rather lighter soil, and a more sheltered position, are 
requisite, compared with what is suitable later in the 
season. Drills for Peas should be drawn flat and rather 
wide, say 6in. at the bottom, and at a uniform depth of 
about 23in., or a little deeper for large-seeded kinds. 
When sown in autumn, too, a greater depth is recom- 
mended than for spring; but the soil filled in should 
first be rendered somewhat fine, in order that the young 
seedlings may readily find their way through it. If the 
seeds are good, they should not be sown too thickly, 
particularly the strong-growing, late sorts. As a general 
guide, a pint of good seed of an early or medium-growing 
Pea should sow from twelve to fifteen yards run, a similar 
quantity of a late sort being equalised over a further 
length of about ten yards; provided that, in either case, 
most of the seeds are likely to grow. The distance apart 
for the rows depends on the height to which the variety is 
expected to grow, and the space available. Rows of Peas, 
sown some distance from each other, and the intervening 
space occupied with another crop, is an excellent system, 
much practised, with the result that a more abundant yield 
is obtained than when the rows are very near each other. 
This plan does not, however, answer so well for early 
supplies, because the necessary shelter would not be 
insured. For these, a sunny south border is requisite, 
and, in order to subject each row to an equal amount 
of sunshine, and also utilise the whole border, so far as 
the quantity of seed reaches, it is generally most con- 
venient to sow in an oblique direction across the border, 
allowing the lines to run in the direction from south-east 
to north-west, the space allowed between each two rows 
being about equal to the estimated height that the sort 
of Peas sown will reach. When Peas are provided with 
sticks on which to climb, as is usually the case with 
those grown in gardens, it is very important that the 
plants should not be allowed to fall about or become bent 
before the sticks are inserted, else they seldom take hold 
properly. Earthing-up should first be practised, lightly, 
when the seedlings are a little above ground, and again 
before the sticks are inserted. When dwarf sorts are cul- 
tivated, and allowed to grow on the ground—a plan not in 
any case recommended, except for field or market-garden 
culture on a large scale—the earth should be drawn 
more to one side than the other, in order to encourage 
all the plants to turn in one (the opposite) direction. 
The seeds of Peas require some protection against the 
depredations of mice; otherwise, they are in danger of 
being entirely demolished even before germination takes 
place. To prevent this, various plans have been devised. 
Some merely cover the seeds of early sowings with a 
little good soil, and then with, say, 2in. of sharp sand 
or sifted coal ashes, these substances not being readily 
burrowed into by mice. As a preventive, the seeds 
should always be placed in a little sweet oil, and after- 
wards covered with dry red lead, which will then adhere to 
their surface; powdered resin has also been recommended 
for use in a somewhat similar way. For other methods of 
lessening the harm done by mice, see Mice. Small birds 
are very destructive to the young plants when they are 
just issuing from the ground, by clipping off a great 
part, or sometimes the whole, of their heads. Pes-guards, 
Pea—continued. i 
made by fixing ordinary wire netting on a framework 
with semi-circular iron hoops attached, are most useful 
for placing over the rows until danger is past. Failing 
these, small black threads, fixed a couple of inches above 
the young plants, and stretched as tightly as the 
material admits, will often prove an effectual preserver. 
The smaller and more invisible such threads are, the 
better, as, if they are large enough to be easily seen, 
small birds pass under them unscared, and carry on 
their disastrous practices underneath. In some localities, 
particularly near shrubberies and large trees, birds are 
very destructive to the Pea crop when it begins to 
be fit for gathering. Numerous plans are adopted for 
lessening the amount of destruction by scaring the birds, 
but it is seldom altogether prevented when once com- 
menced, except by covering the whole with netting; 
this is usually kept at a fair distance off by the Pea- 
sticks themselves. An occasional discharge of a gun has 
also proved instrumental in warding off such unwelcome 
visitors amongst green Peas as hawfinches, blue tits, and 
sparrows. ; : 
Earliest Crops. In gardens generally, some time 
during the month of May is as early as a gathering of 
green Peas can be expected, and not unfrequently, in an 
unfavourable season, June has considerably advanced 
before many dishes are procurable. As before stated, 
great attention is accorded to early Pea culture, but, at 
times, the very earliest crops are exceedingly precarious. 
There are many methods of forwarding and protecting; 
but, first of all, it is imperative that only suitable 
early sorts must be sown. Dwarf Peas are sometimes 
forced in large pots under glass, but the system is 
scarcely worth pursuing, except for the possibility of 
securing a satisfactory result, the latter being by no 
means certain. Nothing approaching a high temperature 
should be allowed, nor must a close atmosphere be 
permitted. Failure is not unfrequent, in consequence of 
the flowers failing to set in winter time. In spring, 
some pots might be utilised, and an early—though very 
limited—supply obtained in advance of any from out- 
side. Forcing of Peas under glass must not be attempted 
before the pods are set; they will not withstand any- 
thing beyond forwarding in a cool, airy, and light situa- 
tion. For earliest crops outside, a south border, duly 
sheltered by a high wall, or fence, may be selected, the 
ground prepared, and seeds sown about the middle of 
November. With a view to providing for mishaps 
throngh winter, it is advisable to sow more thickly 
at this season than has been already recommended. 
As the young plants appear, some of the earth on either 
side should be drawn up to form a slight ridge, which 
should be increased in height by a similar process when 
a little more growth has been made. Shelter must also 
be afforded, especially on the northern side, by the in- 
sertion of short sticks, or branches of evergreens. Young 
Pea-plants will, under certain circumstances, bear con- 
siderable frost without injury, but they can ill With. 
stand a cutting wind. In very severe weather, a light 
covering of dry bracken, or similar material, should be 
thrown over them to prevent the ground becoming muth 
frozen. Staking affords of itself a great amount of 
shelter, and should be attended to so soon as the plants 
are sufficiently high, A few evergreen branches will 
still prove valuable on the more exposed sides of the 
rows. Should this sowing succeed, and make satis- 
factory progress, the spaces between the rows should be 
deeply hoed early in spring, when the surface is in a 
fairly dry condition, and has become somewhat warmed 
by sunshine. Another sowing should be made in January, 
should weather and circumstances permit, and still an 
equally well-sheltered situation should be chosen. It not 
unfrequently happens, in a favourable spring, that this 
sowing nearly overtakes that sown in autumn by the 
