CHAPTER XXXV. 

 ENGLISH, OR GARDEN, PEAS. 



These belong to the great family of legumes, of which we have already 

 said so much. If sown on land that was manured the year before for garden 

 crops there will be no need for any fertilization of the pea crop, but on most 

 lands in the Southern market gardening section a light dressing of acid phos- 

 phate will be an advantage. In the Southern trucking section the marrowfat 

 peas are sown in November, and needing some support it is a common prac- 

 tice to sow them alongside the rows of the dead cotton plants. These late 

 peas are thus given a longer season to mature, as the extra early peas, which 

 go to market first, are not sown till January and February. As to varieties, 

 every seedsman has his special strain of the extra early peas, which are all 

 really the same pea, the Daniel O'Rourks, which have been better rogued 

 with than some others, perhaps, but all try to keep their special variety as 

 pure and uniform as possible. Private gardeners with limited space, provide 

 something for the peas to climb on, but the market gardener cannot afford 

 this, and lets them tumble on the ground. In my home garden I use the 

 narrow poultry wire, woven in large meshes, and find that this is not only the 

 best but the cheapest way of supporting, not only the garden peas, but the 

 lima and other climbing beans. I have in use now, wire netting that has 

 been used for this purpose annually for ten years and it loooks as though it 

 may last twenty years longer, and even in its first cost it is cheaper than the 

 time of men and teams to go into one's own forest and cut brush. The little 

 extra early peas are valuable for the market gardener, but while the fact that 

 they give their whole crop at once is a valuable feature to him, it is not to the 

 private gardener, who wants peas that last longer and are of better quality. 

 For home use we never plant. any of the extra earlies, but are content to begin 

 with the Premium Gem, which is of better quality and lasts longer. We 

 follow these with the Yorkshire Hero, Stratagem, and the Champion of 

 England. 



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