258 



THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURTST. 



Landretlis Extra Early.— 3'\ni% 18th 

 there were more peas upon this variety 

 tit to be picked than upon any other. 

 The first mess was gathered June 21st, 

 when a few were also picked from 

 Laxton's Earliest of All. The vines 

 fijrew a little over three feeb in height. 

 They branch very little, are rather 

 slender and average seven to eight pods 

 to the vine. This strain is evidently 

 carefully selected — the vines growing 

 to a uniform height and maturing the 

 fruit as nearly all at once as it seems 

 }>ossible for any variety to do. 



On June 26th, 200 pods were pick- 

 ed which weighed 33 ounces — contain- 

 ed 1,202 seeds which weighed 13 oz. 



The Old Philadelphia Extra Early. — 

 This proved to be, with Laxton's 

 Earliest of All, the second early. In 

 point of earliness we could note no dif- 

 ference between the two. The first 

 picking was made June 23rd, and at 

 the same time a few were ready to be 

 picked upon the American Wonder and 

 Wood's Ex. Early. The vines are 

 strong, not much inclined to branch 

 and grow 3| feet in height. 



June 26th — 200 pods weighed 32 

 ounces, which contained 970 seeds 

 which weighed 10 ounces. 



Laxtoris Earliest of All. — ^This pea 

 was extensively advertised in England 

 last year as the earliest pea known. It 

 was no earlier than the Old Phila- 

 delphia. Tlie vines grow a little over 

 three feet and are notably slender and 

 never branching, and bear seven pods 

 to a vine. The variety has been care- 

 fully selected. All the vines grew to 

 the same height, were uniformly pro- 

 ductive, maturing to the tops nearly at 

 the same time, so that the entire crop 

 may be taken ofi" before wrinkled peas 

 are ready and the ground be prepared 

 for later crops. The same, however, 

 may be said as to the Philadelphia, 

 Lindreth's, American Wonder, etc. 



On June 26th, 200 pods weighed 

 32J ounces — contained 1,300 seeds 

 which weighed 12 ounces. 



Wood's Extra Early. — An excellent 

 variety maturing with Philadelphia, 

 from which it is distinguishable by a 

 more vigorous growth of vine. It also 

 grows one foot taller. 



June 27 th, picked 200 pods which 

 contained 1.020 seeds weighing 14 

 ounces. The pods (fruit entire) were 

 not weighed. 



America7i Baxter. — The vines grew to- 

 the height of five feet. The pods which 

 formed near the ground were ready to 

 pick June 25 th, though those immedi- 

 ately above were quite immature. Still 

 higher up the blossoms had not yet set, 

 while at the tops of the vines the 

 flowers were not even in bloom. July 

 2nd, were picking them from within 

 a foot of the top. The tips of the vines 

 were then in bloom while j.ust beneath 

 were many young pods. The last 

 picking was made July 10th, which 

 was 16 days after the American Won- 

 der was in bearing, and other wrinkled 

 peas, such as the Telephone, Edinburgh 

 Beauty, etc., were in use. As to quality^ 

 there is very little choice between the 

 smooth kinds ; provided they are in the 

 same stage of maturity and cooked just 

 alike it is hard to detect any differences. 

 It is very evident that nobody wants 

 a smooth pea when he can get a 

 wrinkled j)ea. The peculiarity of the 

 Racer, that it is in use a long time, is 

 therefore no great merit. On the one 

 hand, we have earlier peas — as Daniel 

 O'Rourke, First and Best, Phila- 

 delphia, Landreth's Extra Early, etc., 

 and, on the other, peas very much bet- 

 ter in quality. 



The Racer bears an average of 14 

 pods to a vine, each pod having from 

 five to seven peas, never over eight. 

 The pods are well filled. 



June 27th, picked 200 pods which 



