GARDEN PEAS AND VARIETIES 79 



mends Surprise and Gradus for an early, and Cham- 

 pion of England for a later pea. 



As one goes into the literature of varieties, and 

 notes the different sorts recommended at the experi- 

 ment stations and agricultural colleges, he is sur- 

 prised to note the multitude of names which are un- 

 familiar. Very few of the popular sorts, 15 or 20 

 years ago, are recognized as standards now. 



The classification of varieties is found in an ear- 

 lier chapter, to which the prospective gardener is 

 referred. Let the novice remember, one classifica- 

 tion would divide green peas into two great classes, 

 smooth and wrinkled. The former is the early type, 

 and can be planted much earlier in the season, but 

 the peas are not nearly as sweet. The wrinkled 

 sorts are the standard, and strains are being de- 

 veloped which come on so rapidly that they are 

 nearly as early as the smooth sorts. A number of 

 new classes in the extra early, early, mid-season, 

 and late peas, have been added recently. The 

 Alaska or Extra Early type has been added to by 

 the Ameer and Claudit. The latter is really a large- 

 podded Alaska. The Ameer is almost as early as 

 the Alaska, and possesses much longer pods. It is 

 blue-seeded, grows about three feet tall, and the 

 pods are nearly as large as Telephone. 



The next class of dwarf wrinkled earlies takes in 

 American Wonder, Nott's Excelsior, etc. The 

 alleged improvement in this group is Laxtonian, 

 which is really a dwarf Gradus. Another class is 

 the taller, early wrinkled varieties represented by 

 the Thomas Laxton, Gradus, etc. These are two 

 very popular varieties, and an alleged improvement 

 on them is Early Morn. Another is re-selected Pilot. 



