SIXKINDSOFGARDENTEA. 57 



QUEEN OF THE DWARFS. Seed Yellow. 



This extraordinary pea I sowed April 20, being totally ignorant of the 

 method of its gi-owth, or qualities. The seed vegetated luxuriantly, only 

 attaining a height of ten to fifteen inches, but for a long time no blossom was 

 visible ; at length, about the middle of July, I was astonished at finding 

 under a very large fohage a number of immense pods, containing full sized 

 Marrowfat peas ; in truth it is a Dwarf Marrowfat, and should not have 

 been sown until the middle of May. The early blossoms I found encased 

 between the leaves, destroyed by the cold of the latter end of May ; the 

 produce was from the second set of blooms ; these, as usual, were not well 

 filled in nmnber of peas, but the size of them was large, and they had the 

 true Marro^vfat flavor. I believe that this pea sown about the 15th May, 

 on good rich soil, in an open situation, would be very productive. The 

 growth is robust and very peculiar, the joints from leaf to leaf are extremely 

 short, and the foliage spreads out like a fan, bearing the heavy pods under- 

 neath ; of course it does not require sticks. The flavor is rich and good, 

 exactly resemblmg that of the Tall Marrowfat. It is at all events worth 

 trying. 



DWARF BLUE IMPERIAL. Seed Bluish Green. 



Sown May 21, ready for gathering July 26. This pea is so well known 

 here abeady as to make my remarks not of much value, but having sowed 

 it merely for the sake of comparing it with the others, I will just state, that 

 it appears to me inferior in flavor to Prince Albert, and Warner's Early 

 Emperor, and much inferior to Woodford's Prolific, but it is a prolific 

 bearer, and good to sow for a main succession crop. 



In order to have peas a luxury for the table, they should be gathered at 

 sunrise, while cold with the dew, the pods bemg then crisp and fresh ; then 

 put into a cool cellar, and shelled just previous to boiling the same day. 

 Being light work for the hot hours, peas are very often gathered when the 

 thermometer indicates the highest range, say 78 to 86°, they are then heated 

 and soft ; in this state they are put into barrels ; in three or four hours a 

 change in the juices commences, not exactly fermentation, but its precursor, 

 and something resembling it, and instead of a tender, nutritious, agreeable 

 food, of very easy digestion, they are in twentyfour hours, when eaten, 

 converted into a leathery, tasteless and indigestible vegetable. 



