4 The Progress in Vegetable Cultivation 



On this occasion I should have preferred to avoid any allusion to the work of 

 my firm in connection with the Pea, but I think it will be conceded that no sketch 

 would be complete without referring to the first early wrinkled marrowfat and other 

 sorts, which have been introduced during the past few years, and in the selection of 

 which I have personally been deeply interested ; I allude especially to May Queen, 

 A 1, Empress of India, Seedling, Excelsior, and Forcing, which have attracted 

 so much attention at recent Temple Shows. 



Our aim has been to replace the small, hard, round-seeded sorts, on which the j 

 public formerly depended for their first supply, with Peas of dwarf growth, but 

 equally early, and producing pods as large as Telephone, Duke of Albany, and Peas j 

 of that class, containing large wrinkled peas of marrowfat flavour ; and we have j 

 succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectations. In Peas of a later class j 

 we have introduced other popular kinds, such as Royal Jubilee, Perfection, 

 Windsor Castle, Exhibition, Magnum Bonum, Late Queen, and others. The eager- 

 ness with which all these new Peas have been sought after as soon as they had 

 been tried attests their value, and it is personally gratifying to me to know that 

 Her Majesty in whose honour we are met to-day allowed our Collection of Peas 

 staged at the Temple Show in 1896 to be placed in the Entrance Hall at Windsor 

 Castle for personal examination, and that some of the Peas appeared the same 

 evening upon the Royal table. Mr. OWEN THOMAS will perhaps permit me to men- 

 tion that this year the Queen was so pleased with the Peas he had grown at Windsor 

 that a command was telegraphed from Balmoral to forward a supply by post daily, 

 also that in June last the Empress Frederick wished seed sent at once to the gardens 

 at Friedrichshof, in order to have marrowfat Peas in the autumn. 



During recent years the list of good Peas has been further increased by such 

 excellent sorts as Daisy, Veitch's Maincrop, Alderman, Laxton's Gradus, and many 

 others. 



Here it may be well to remark that the improvement of Peas, as well as of other I 

 Vegetables, has doubtless received considerable impetus from the keen competition I 

 upon the exhibition table a hobby which our older gardening friends seldom, if I 

 ever, indulged. This competition has likewise had a very marked effect upon the I 

 cultivation of Peas and other Vegetables, so that, with the fine types now procurable j 

 and the improved systems adopted by growers, results are obtained which are really j 

 marvellous. 



Before leaving this section reference must be made to the careful work done in I 

 the Chiswick Gardens in making trials of Peas for many years past. The value of j 

 these trials, great as it is, would be considerably enhanced had circumstances I 

 rendered it possible to grow a larger number of older sorts alongside the new | 

 varieties for the sake of comparison. I may mention that in order to make the 

 Reading Pea Trials comprehensive enough to determine the value of new seedlings, 

 and to fully test the older varieties offered, &c., it is necessary to sow from 600 to 

 700 rows annually. 



BROAD BEANS. 



In the early days of the Queen's reign lovers of this Vegetable were relatively 

 better off than those who preferred Peas. There already existed such kinds as 



