144 BREEDING 



inclies deep in the ground. The distance of the seeds 

 apart depends on whether it is desired to produce 

 as large a number of plants as possible in a given 

 space, or as large a number of seeds as possible per 

 plant. In the former case, it is not advisable to 

 place the seeds nearer than three inches apart in the 

 drill, but two rows may be sown in one drill, three 

 inches apart from each other, in such a way that a 

 seed of one row is opposite an interval in the other 

 row. If seeds are sown thicker than this, I find that 

 there is a danger of weaker plants being fatally over- 

 shadowed by their better-favoured fellows, or, at any 

 rate, of their being prevented from flowering or 

 setting seed. In the case in which it is desired to 

 obtain as many seeds as possible per plant, the seeds 

 may be sown at least nine inches apart in a single 

 row in the drill. Whether, if the seeds were sown 

 one foot apart, the plants would be able to avail 

 themselves of the additional soil-space and light, 

 and bear more seeds than plants grown nine inches 

 apart, I do not know. But that plants grown nine 

 inches apart set a vastly greater quantity of seed 

 than plants grown three inches apart I know as the 

 result of experiment. 



It is desirable to cover the patch of ground, on 

 which the peas are growing, with netting before the 

 time when the pods have swollen to the size at which 

 they are usually gathered for the table. The unripe 

 peas at this stage constitute an irresistible temptation 

 to birds, especially to jays and hawfinches, which can 

 do a great deal of damage in a very short time. And 



