AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



37 



Pea continued. 



beneath the surface. Some cultivators prepare trenches, 

 in which such manure is laid at the bottom, and covered 

 in with the soil previously taken out. For main and late 

 crops, this plan has been found very successful, because 

 by it the roots are provided with an extra amount of 

 nutriment and moisture at a time when they most re- 

 quire it. Efficient drainage is, however, important, and 

 the surface should be kept open for the reception of 

 all the rainwater available. The treatment varies soimv 

 what with the seasons, the time when the seeds of suc- 

 cessional crops are sown, and when they are intended 

 to come to perfection. For the earliest supply, a warm, 

 rather lighter soil, and a more sheltered position, are 

 requisite, compared with what is suitable later in the 

 season. Drills for Peas should be drawn flat and rather 

 wide, say 6in. at the bottom, and at a uniform depth of 

 about 2iin., or a little deeper for large-seeded kinds. 

 When sown in autumn, too, a greater depth is recom- 

 mended than for spring ; but the soil filled in should 

 first be rendered somewhat fine, in order that the young 

 seedlings may readily find their way through it. If the 

 seeds are good, they should not be sown too thickly, 

 particularly the strong-growing, late sorts. As a general 

 guide, a pint of good seed of an early or medium-growing 

 Pea should sow from twelve to fifteen yards run, a similar 

 quantity of a late sort being equalised over a further 

 length of about ten yards ; provided that, in either case, 

 most of the seeds are likely to grow. The distance apart 

 for the rows depends on the height to which the variety is 

 expected to grow, and the space available. Bows of Peas, 

 sown some distance from each other, and the intervening 

 space occupied with another crop, is an excellent system, 

 much practised, with the result that a more abundant yield 

 is obtained than when the rows are very near each other. 

 This plan does not, however, answer so well for early 

 supplies, because the necessary shelter would not be 

 insured. For these, a sunny south border is requisite, 

 and, in order to subject each row to an equal amount 

 of sunshine, and also utilise the whole border, so far as 

 the quantity of seed reaches, it is generally most con- 

 venient to sow in an oblique direction across the border, 

 allowing the lines to run in the direction from sonth-east 

 to north-west, the space allowed between each two rows 

 being about equal to the estimated height that the sort 

 of Peas sown will reach. When Peas are provided with 

 sticks on which to climb, as is usually the case with 

 those grown in gardens, it is very important that the 

 plants should not be allowed to fall about or become bent 

 before the sticks are inserted, else they seldom take hold 

 properly. Earthing-up should first be practised, lightly, 

 when the seedlings are a little above ground, and again 

 before the sticks are inserted. When dwarf sorts are cul- 

 tivated, and allowed to grow on the ground a plan not in 

 any case recommended, except for field or market-garden 

 culture on a large scale the earth should be drawn 

 more to one side than the other, in order to encourage 

 all the plants to turn in one (the opposite) direction. 



The seeds of Peas require some protection against the 

 depredations of mice; otherwise, they are in danger of 

 being entirely demolished even before germination takes 

 place. To prevent this, various plans have been devised. 

 Some merely cover the seeds of early sowings with a 

 little good soil, and then with, say, 2in. of sharp sand 

 or sifted coal ashes, these substances not being readily 

 burrowed into by mice. As a preventive, the seeds 

 should always be placed in a little sweet oil, and after- 

 wards covered with dry red lead, which will then adhere to 

 their surface ; powdered resin has also been recommended 

 for use in a somewhat similar way. For other methods of 

 lessening the harm done by mice, see Slice. Small birds 

 are very destructive to the young plants when they are 

 just issuing from the ground, by clipping off a great 

 part, or sometimes the whole, of their heads. Pea-guards, 



Pea^-continued. 



made by fixing ordinary wire netting on a framework 

 with semi-circular iron hoops attached, are most useful 

 for placing over the rows until danger is past. Failing 

 these, small black threads, fixed a couple of inches above 

 the young plants, and stretched as tightly as the 

 material admits, will often prove an effectual preserver. 

 The smaller and more invisible such threads are, the 

 better, as, if they are large enough to be easily seen, 

 small birds pass under them unscared, and carry on 

 their disastrous practices underneath. In some localities, 

 particularly near shrubberies and large trees, birds are 

 very destructive to the Pea crop when it begins to 

 be fit for gathering. Numerous plans are adopted for 

 lessening the amount of destruction by scaring the birds, 

 but it is seldom altogether prevented when once com- 

 menced, except by covering the whole with netting; 

 this is usually kept at a fair distance off by the Pea- 

 sticks themselves. An occasional discharge of a gun has 

 also proved instrumental in warding off such unwelcome 

 visitors amongst green Peas as hawfinches, blue tits, and 

 sparrows. 



Earliest Crops. In gardens generally, some time 

 during the month of May is as early as a gathering of 

 green Peas can be expected, and not nnfrequently, in an 

 unfavourable season, June has considerably advanced 

 before many dishes are procurable. As before stated, 

 great attention is accorded to early Pea culture, but, at 

 times, the very earliest crops are exceedingly precarious. 

 There are many methods of forwarding and protecting; 

 but, first of all, it is imperative that only suitable 

 early sorts must be sown. Dwarf Peas are sometimes 

 forced in large pots under glass, but the system is 

 scarcely worth pursuing, except for the possibility of 

 securing a satisfactory result, the latter being by no 

 means certain. Nothing approaching a high temperature 

 should be allowed, nor must a close atmosphere be 

 permitted. Failure is not unfrequent, in consequence of 

 the flowers failing to set in winter time. In spring, 

 some pots might be utilised, and an early though very 

 limited supply obtained in advance of any from out- 

 side. Forcing of Peas under glass must not be attempted 

 before the pods are set; they will not withstand any- 

 thing beyond forwarding in a cool, airy, and light situa- 

 tion. For earliest crops outside, a south border, duly 

 sheltered by a high wall, or fence, may be selected, the 

 ground prepared, and seeds sown about the middle of 

 November. With a view to providing for mishaps 

 through winter, it is advisable to sow more thickly 

 at this season than has been already recommended. 

 As the young plants appear, some of the earth on either 

 side should be drawn up to form a slight ridge, which 

 should be increased in height by a similar process when 

 a little more growth has been made. Shelter must also 

 be afforded, especially on the northern side, by the in- 

 sertion of short sticks, or branches of evergreens. Young 

 Pea-plants will, under certain circumstances, bear con- 

 siderable frost without injury, but they can ill with- 

 stand a cutting wind. In very severe weather, a light 

 covering of dry bracken, or similar material, should be 

 thrown over them to prevent the ground becoming much 

 frozen. Staking affords of itself a great amount of 

 shelter, and should be attended to so soon as the plants 

 are sufficiently high. A few evergreen branches will 

 still prove valuable on the more exposed sides of the 

 rows. Should this sowing succeed, and make satis- 

 factory progress, the spaces between the rows should be 

 deeply hoed early in spring, when the surface is in a 

 fairly dry condition, and has become somewhat warmed 

 by sunshine. Another sowing should be made in January, 

 should weather and circumstances permit, and still an 

 equally well-sheltered situation should be chosen. It not 

 unfrequently happens, in a favourable spring, that this 

 sowing nearly overtakes that sown in autumn by the 



