PEA 



PEA 



2491 



of supporting stakes. The ingenuity of the home-gar- 

 dener will devise good forms of trellising. 



It is evident that green peas occupy too much ground 

 to be a practical crop for a city lot or small town gar- 

 den, and generally the town dweller can be most satis- 

 factorily supplied from a nearby market-garden; and the 

 great superiority of freshly gathered local-grown peas 

 over those which have to be shipped in make this one of 

 the best of crops for a gardener with permanent cus- 

 tomers. The best cultural methods for field plantings 

 do not differ materially from those given for the garden. 

 No planting is so likely to give a satisfactory yield both 

 as to quantity and quality as on an old clover sod on a 

 well-drained clay loam, which should be well plowed 

 in the fall or early winter and the surface worked into 

 a good tilth as early as practicable in the spring. 



Planting can be best done with a seed-drill so arranged 

 that the rows are 12 to 36 inches apart, according to 

 the variety, with occasional rows left blank for con- 

 venience in gathering. 



2779. Garden pea, Nott Excelsior. ( X Ji) 



Picking should be done after sundown or in early 

 morning before nine o'clock and care be taken not to 

 bulk the pods, as they are liable to heat and spoil. 



Peas for canning. 



There is no modern industry in which there has been 

 greater improvement within the past ten or more 

 years, both as to methods and the quality of the prod- 

 uct, than in the canning of vegetables. This is espe- 

 cially noticeable in canned peas. First there has been a 

 great betterment as to the varietal quality of the stock 

 used. For canning, particularly when modern methods 

 of harvesting and processing are used, it is important 

 not only that the green peas be sweet and palatable, 

 but that the largest possible proportion of the pods shall 

 be in prime edible condition at the same time, and 

 canners are influenced by these qualities in selecting 

 varieties for their plantings, and in the cultural methods 

 followed. The development of each planting is closely 

 watched by an expert, who directs that it be cut and 

 delivered at the factory on the day when he judges it 

 will be in the best condition, the time for individual 

 crops being sometimes modified by the capacity of the 

 farmer to deliver and the factory to handle it. Not 

 infrequently certain crops are left to ripen and be har- 

 vested as grain because of such conditions. In hot and 



sunny weather, the vines are cut either after five in 

 the afternoon or before nine in the morning, hauled to 

 the factory and from the wagon go direct to a specially 

 constructed threshing-machine or "viner," which 

 separates the peas and delivers them on a moving 

 inclined belt, which throws out any 

 bits of vines or pods. They are 

 then washed and graded, and go to 

 the processer. So promptly is this 

 work done that it is known of peas 

 being in the cans and being cooked 

 before the wagon on which they 

 were brought from the field could 

 start for home. Usually peas put 

 up by a well -managed cannery 

 come to the table in more palata- 

 ble condition than so-called fresh 

 peas which were gathered ten to 

 twenty-four hours before and 

 shipped from 10 to several hun- 

 dred miles to market. 



Canners who are particular as to 

 the labeling of their output often 

 separate it into different grades, 

 determined by the variety and size 

 of peas and labeled somewhat as 

 follows: 



2780. Pea, Nott 

 Excelsior. (XH) 



1st 



2nd 



3rd 



4th 



Varieties 

 Small, smooth seed, 



not over 16/64 18/64 20/64 Run of crop 



Small, wrinkled seed, 



not over 18/64 20/64 22/64 Run of crop 



Large, smooth seed, , 



not over 20/64 22/64 24/64 Run of crop 



Large wrinkled seed, 



not over 20/64 24/64 26/64 Run of crop 



Varieties and seed. 



Few vegetables have developed greater varietal dif- 

 ferences affecting their horticultural or culinary value 

 than garden peas. As to vines, there are sorts from 6 

 inches to 6 feet in height and those which very rarely 

 form more than a single stem, while others are so 

 branched that they often are wider than tall; some 

 mature their crop very early and all at once, others 

 not until the vines are fully grown or continuing through 

 a long season; pods which are so broad and long that 

 the inclosed peas never fill them, others in which the 

 growing peas very often split the pod open; peas which 

 are green, yellow or white, smooth and hard; others 

 which are wrinkled, distorted and comparatively soft, 

 even when fully mature. Very con- 

 spicuous variations of little practi- 

 cal importance are sometimes 

 correlated with invisible qualities 

 which are of great importance. 



When grown for seed, peas of 

 the garden varieties yield a com- 

 paratively small fold of increase, 

 seldom over 10 or 12 and often only 

 2 or 3, so that it is more difficult 

 than with most vegetables always 

 to secure full supplies of certain 

 sorts, and seedsmen's stocks are 

 constantly changing, not only as to 

 character but name. The following 

 are now very popular varieties: 

 Extra-early smooth-seeded Alaska 

 or Prolific Extra Early; early 

 wrinkled seeded Thomas Laxtpn, 

 Gradus, Surprise; dwarf Excelsior, 

 either the Notts or the Suttons: 

 midseason Advancer, Admiral. 

 Senator; late Champion of Eng- 

 land, Strategem. However, one 2781. Pea, Pride of 

 should confer with the seedsmen the Market. 



