450 VILLA GARDENING paut v 



in June, but July is the month for excellent Marrow Peas. In 

 August and September, unless the land is good and the treatment 

 very liberal and first-rate in every respect, the Peas are most 

 likely to fall away. If they do not cease to bear, the pods lose 

 their fresh green colour, the Peas in the pods are infested with 

 maggots, and if mildew makes it appearance the chapter of ills is 

 complete. Most of these evils may be successfully combated, as 

 I shall show presently. I begin Avith 



The First Eaely Peas. — These, where glass can be had 

 sufficient for our needs, will comprise several small dishes in pots 

 of the American Wonder, or some other approved dwarf kind, 

 which should be sown in 8-inch pots in November, and brought 

 on steadily in a pit close to the gla-ss with just the smallest 

 modicum of artificial heat, as Peas do not force well in the ordinary 

 acceptation of the word, and therefore it will not do to be 

 impatient. A steady regular growth, in a very light position, 

 with a temperature never exceeding 45° to 50° at night, will 

 achieve successful results. Ventilation must be given at every 

 suitable opportunity. The first sowing in the open air may take 

 place any time from the beginning of November till ]\Iarch, and 

 the probability is that if the same kind of Peas are planted at 

 both these extreme limits of time, there would not be more than 

 ten days' difference in the period of gathering. But even then the 

 week or ten days gained is highly valued, and many men strive 

 aU their lives for a much less tangible result. In cold wet dis- 

 tricts it is as well not to sow till after Christmas, as in such 

 situations the early sown crops are not unfrequently cut off" by 

 cold winds in association with cold rains. Very often the first 

 early Peas are raised under glass, and when hardened planted 

 out early in March. I have often adopted this plan. The seeds 

 of a white round Pea, such as Ringleader or Sangster's No. 1, 

 are sown in pots or troughs or on sods of turf, and placed in 

 heat ; then they soon germinate, and are hardened off" and planted 

 on a warm south border the first week in March. A ridge of 

 earth is drawn up on each side as a shelter, and a few evergreen 

 boughs are added as a still further protection. The second early 

 Peas, such as Himdred Fold and Huntingdonian, may be sown at 

 the same time as the early kinds, when these latter are not sown 

 before the end of February. 



To keep up a regular succession there should be frequent 

 sowings — taking account of and giving due weight to the fact that 

 all Peas so%vn during the months of January, February, and the 

 first half of March, will not vary more than a week or ten days at 

 the time of turning in. There is not much use in making succes- 



