130 Commercial Gardening 



5 cwt. of dissolved bones to the acre, sown on the furrow before the land is 

 worked down. 



The drills are put 15 in. apart, and 10 Ib. of seed is enough for an acre, 

 and the seed should not be put deeper than 1 in. 



As soon as the young plants have made their third leaf the thinning to 

 a distance of 9 in. in the rows should be done, and done quickly. If the 

 plants are allowed to stand thick long enough to draw each other, they will 

 never quite recover from the weakness and check in consequence. 



Parsnips will not do well in shallow soil or chalk, nor in very stony 

 soil; otherwise the crop is so valuable as a change that it is wise to grow as 

 much of it as can be disposed of. But as it is one the sale of which cannot 

 be forced, the grower must feel his way as to the quantity to grow, for 

 although the Parsnip makes good food for stock, if more is grown than can 

 be sold on the market, the cost of digging and disposing of the surplus will 

 make a serious inroad into the profits earned by what has been sold. A 

 crop of Parsnips will cost about 3 an acre for hoeing. The price for best 

 is generally 5d. to 6d. per dozen; for seconds and "chumps" about 2s. per 

 cwt. Lisbonnais, The Student, Magnum Bonum, Maltese, and Tender and 

 True are good varieties. 



The Parsnip is frequently attacked by the Celery Fly, which lays its 

 eggs between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf, the grub, when 

 hatched, eating out the substance of the leaf. 



One or two sowings of soot will make the plants too unpleasant to the 

 flies, and they will seek some other host for their purpose. [w. G. L.] 



24. PEAS 



This highly popular and widely grown vegetable (Pisum sativum), 

 though cultivated in enormous quantities by farmers, who use it as a catch 

 crop on whole summer fallows, and cast the produce on to the market, all 

 the family together, in bags, need not be neglected by the market gardener; 

 because in all large centres of population there is a demand for Peas 

 gathered with discrimination and sent up in baskets. 



But the market gardener who goes in for Peas should make up his 

 mind to maintain a regular supply of properly grown, well-picked, not 

 over-matured pods. Once customers learn that he can be relied upon for 

 this, he will find no trouble in disposing of his produce at fair prices, and 

 need not be disturbed by the fluctuations of the bag trade. To do this the 

 varieties to be sown must be selected with judgment each winter, ready for 

 the coming season. Regular weekly sowings should be made of just such 

 a quantity as the grower's scope of land will allow and his organization 

 handle. 



In the picking season he will require careful and constant oversight 

 over the pickers. The sorts of Peas change so much every season, and new 

 sorts become obsolete faster than ironclads, that it is almost useless to name 

 sorts to sow. The following, however, may be regarded as good varieties 



