436 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



care bestowed in covering with dry cinder ashes, &ic., the mice find them 

 out and carry them off to their winter dormitory, which causes the crop to 

 come up patchy ; the slugs, too, come in for a share of the spoil in defiance 

 of the frequent application of lime, for in some seasons their name is legion, 

 especially in heavy soils. But even after struggling through these mishaps 

 they are frequently attacked by an audacious flock of sparrows. In vain 

 are all the recommended remedies for such a disaster tried ; threads of all 

 qualities and colors, feathers of every dye, dead cats, live cats, cats painted 

 on boards, rattles, and jingling glasses, are of little avail against these 

 determined freebooters. No, no ; the sparrow is too familiar Math man and 

 his ways to take alarm at any subterfuge of that sort ; he must find you a 

 resolute foe armed with your gun before he gives way. The remnant of 

 the peas, however, still excites our hope ; those that were cropped over send 

 up fresh stems ; the season advances, the growing weather of spring sets 

 in, the surrounding vegetation assumes a vigorous and a healthy growth, 

 the carefully tended peas make progress. At last the embryo blossoms 

 appear, but expectant hope is doomed to disappointment ; still their stems 

 are cankered, the foliage becomes yellow, and a frosty morning or two 

 makes the failure complete. Such is the history and my general experience 

 of a crop of peas sown in November or December. 



To gather early peas is as important to the gardener now as it was forty 

 years ago, but in that long period I have only three times pulled a dish in 

 May ; it is true, some of my brother gardeners who had to cultivate a dryer 

 soil in a warmer locality have succeeded once in five or six years in obtain- 

 ing the desired result, and now that we have decidedly earlier varieties, the 

 average will be less if the seasons are favorable, for the frosts, as the crop 

 is coming into bloom, will retard the earlier peas. The well-informed and 

 reading portion of young gardeners have every opportunity of becoming 

 acquainted, at least theoretically, with the means adopted at the present time 

 to have a dish of early peas, and who among the many aspirants to the 

 highest rank of gardeners will fail to read, as far as the time and means at 

 his disposal will permit, the principal periodicals on gardening of the pres- 

 ent day ? To neglect this will be to fall out of the rank and file of his 

 calling to join the brigade of the " rule of thumb," the irregular and awk- 

 ward squad of gardeners. There is one advice, however, which has fre- 

 quently come under my notice, and which is so plausible that I have no 

 doubt it has been frequently followed by eager and unexperienced garden- 

 ers, " Sow on strips of turf, forward them in a mild heat, and afterwards 

 harden them off";" or thus, " Sow thinly in a one-light box, give a gentle 

 heat, harden off, and transplant," &c. Now, I cannot say that this is judic- 

 ious advice, for to bring forward peas in heat, however mild, Avill stimulate 

 their growth, so that their stems will become attenuated, and how they are 

 to be hardened off to withstand the severity of the weather afterwards, 

 those who have tried the plan will best know. It has, however, frequently 

 been a source of regret to me to have seen the unskilful attempt and its 

 futile result. But I will not comment further on the means adapted by 

 others, but give an account of my own practice ; and here I would observe 

 that I have nothing new to off*er, but I will simply state those conditions 



