PEAS. 



The Pea is very hardy, and will endure a great amount of cold, either in or above the ground ; 

 and as we all want " green peas " as early as possible in the season, they should be put in as early 

 as the soil can be got ready the sooner the better. Peas are divided by seedsmen and gar- 

 deners into three classes, Early, Second Early and Late. The earliest are mostly small, round, 



smooth and hardy, the tallest not growing more than 

 from two to three feet in height. Of late years some 

 very fine dwarf, sweet, wrinkled sorts, like Little Gem, 

 have been added to this class, of very great merit. The 

 Second Early contain a list of excellent wrinkled varie- 

 ties, like Eugenie. The Late are large, mostly wrink- 

 led, and formerly were nearly all tall, like the Cham- 

 pion of England, but very many excellent dwarfs have 

 been added to the list, like Yorkshire Hero. If the 

 Earliest sorts are planted about the first of April, in this 

 latitude, they will be fit to gather in June, often quite 

 early in the month. The Second will come in about the 

 Fourth of July. By sowing two or three varieties of 

 Early , and the same of Second and Late, as soon as 

 practicable in the spring, a supply will be had from 

 early in June to late in July, with only one sowing. 

 After this Sweet Corn will be in demand. Sow in drills 

 not less than four inches deep, pretty thickly about a 

 pint to forty feet. The drills should not be nearer than 

 two feet, except for the lowest sorts. Those growing 

 three feet high, or more, should not be nearer than 

 three or four feet. As they are early off the ground, 

 Cabbage can be planted between the rows, or the space 

 can be used for Celery trenches. All varieties growing 

 three feet or more in height should have brush for their 

 support. The large, fine wrinkled varieties are not as 

 hardy as the small sorts, and if planted very early, should 

 have a dry soil, or they are liable to rot. Keep well 

 hoed up and stick early. When grown extensively for 

 market, Peas do well sown on ridges made by the plow, 

 two rows on each ridge, and not slicked, the pea vines 

 drooping into the furrows. In response to the inquiry 

 so often made, why we cannot sow Peas late, and thus 

 have them in eating all through the summer, and why 

 Peas are " buggy," we will say that the Pea delights in 

 a cool, moist climate, and suffers in warm, dry weather. Those planted late will most likely be 

 attacked with mildew, and never give half a crop. The Pea, when grown in a tolerably mild 

 climate, is troubled with a weevil, the egg being laid in the pea when it is very small, through 

 the pod. The way to obtain sound Peas for seed, is to grow them where the weevil does not exist. 



RHUBARB. 



The Rhubarb, or Pie-Plant, is usually grown from divisions of the roots, for every portion 

 which has an eye will form a plant. Occa- 

 sionally persons prefer to grow from se.eds. 

 It will take two years to obtain a strong plant 

 from seed, but a package of seeds in two 

 years will give enough plants to stock a neigh- 

 borhood. Give a good, rich, deep, mellow 



soil, both to seeds and plants. In the spring, two weeks before frost is gone, cover two of 

 finest roots with barrels. Then throw over the roots and around the barrels leaves, straw or 

 manure, and the earliest and tenderest stalks will be the result. 



160 



