THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



pounds of well-pulverized sulphate of iron, being sure to thoroughly in- 

 corporate the whole mixture. Proceed thus to the last row, when the soil 

 from row one will be used for filling. As each row is finished, endeavor 

 to leave the soil ridged up so as to give the frost a chance to do all the 

 disintegrating possible. That all this sounds like a heavy task I know 

 full well, but if you would have good, long-stemmed peas, from the middle 

 of June till at least the middle of September, this, or some modification of 

 this method, must be followed. 



Having prepared the soil, we next come, by logical sequence, to the 

 sowing of the seed. By all means spare no effort to secure good seed from 

 a reliable seedsman. If you would not be disappointed in securing some 

 choice variety which you have set your heart upon, get seed as early as 

 possible and keep in a cool place until sowing time arrives. 



Before we sow, or perhaps before we buy, it will be in order to deter- 

 mine how many seeds we require. On the basis of six rows fifty feet long, 

 it will require six hundred plants to space the plants six inches apart, 

 which is quite thick enough. At any rate, if we start to raise six hundred 

 the chances are that, from one cause or another, a few will succumb 

 between germination and planting time. If they do, we can plant eight 

 inches apart and still fill up the rows, possibly securing better flowers than 

 if planted six inches apart. To raise our six hundred plants we must put 

 in about nine hundred seeds, estimating a seventy per cent, germination, 

 which is about what we may reasonably expect. At the outside, it will only 

 require three ounces, as each ounce contains more than three hundred 

 seeds. 



This immediately brings up the question of what is the best time to sow. 

 While personally convinced by reasoning that the autumn is the ideal time 

 to sow in pots or flats, carrying the plants through the winter in frames 

 or a very cool greenhouse, and planting out as usual in spring, and while 

 I am following this method this winter, still I do not feel that I have given 

 it a sufficient trial to conscientiously advocate it. 



The system I have followed for several years is to sow in small pots 

 about the middle of February or the beginning of March. Before sowing 

 we treat the seed with cultures of the nitrifying bacteria, believing, for 

 the small expense and trouble involved in this operation, that the possible 

 results make it well worth while. But I will not enter into the details of 

 nitro-culturcs, as full directions always accompany each purchase, any more 

 than to say that its application is very simple. 



The seed being sown, we prefer to germinate at a temperature not less 

 than fifty, because at lower temperatures the whites and creams especially 

 are very liable to rot. Some advocate the filing or chipping of the seed 

 coat, and others soaking in tepid water to promote more rapid germina- 

 tion, but at the temperature mentioned, and with plenty of water, we have 

 never found these aids necessary. As soon as germination has taken place 

 and the growing points are above the soil, a temperature of forty-five or 

 even lower at night will suit. During the day a free circulation of air 



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