78 GARDENING 



heavy dressing of manure is put, with only a few 

 inches of soil on the top to receive the seed. The 

 distances between the rows must be regulated by 

 the height of the varieties grown, the taller varieties 

 five or six feet, those of ordinary height three or 

 four feet apart As soon as the seeds are sown, 

 place pea-guards all over them, to prevent the birds 

 eating the seeds, as the sparrows make great 

 depredations on them. If pea-guards are not used, 

 the only other way to protect them is to place a 

 short stick at each end of the row, and then fasten 

 from one to the other a single black thread at a 

 distance of two or three inches above the ground ; 

 but the galvanised pea-guards are the surest means, 

 and they come in very usefully at other times, and 

 last for years. Sticking the peas should commence 

 as soon as the peas are three inches high. 



The dwarf kinds can be grown without sticks, 

 but even they are benefited, being kept from the 

 ground. Before sticking them they should be hoed, 

 and earth drawn round their stems. 



When the summer sowings are made, if the 

 weather is dry, the seed should be soaked in water 

 for two or three hours previous, and the drills well 

 watered. 



Slugs are great enemies to peas ; therefore soot 

 and lime should be scattered round the young 

 plants on their first appearance, and greasy cab- 

 bage leaves placed near quicklime, thinly put over 

 the ground where the peas are to be planted, and 

 then forked over, is a good plan, and soot dusted 

 over when they begin to appear. In dry weather 

 they must be zvell supplied with water, and I con- 

 sider Sutton's advice to open a shallow trench 

 about a foot distant from the rows on the shady 



