114 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to tlu' fact that Southern growers ship North in such quantities as 

 to lower i)rieos and render the market very uncertain. 



In this locality the usual practice is to let cabbages or squashes 

 follow peas as a second crop. If squashes are to follow, the peas 

 are sown in double rows about three and a half feet apart, alter- 

 nating with spaces of about five feet in which the squashes are 

 planted about the first of June, and in hills about ten feet apart 

 in the row. This will be before the peas can be removed. 



When peas are cultivated in this manner the earliest varieties are 

 always chosen, as the later ones could not be got off early enough. 

 They are usually sown about the first of Ai)ril, or as sooaas the 

 ground can be worked. If later crops are desired, continuous sow- 

 ings may be made ever}' week or ten days until the first of August. 



The number of first early smooth varieties is large, but in realit}* 

 all the following are only selected strains of the Daniel O'Rourke, 

 and many of them are no better — Breck's Excelsior, Seventeenth 

 of June, Maud S., Carter's First Crop, Early Caractacus, Hero, 

 and nearly all of the so-called " First-and-Bests " sent out by 

 seedsmen as especially early. 



Among the earliest wrinkled sorts are the Kentish Invicta and 

 Blue Peter, but the Rawson's Clipper (which resembles the In- 

 victa in appearance) surpasses all others in earliness, as has been 

 proven b}- comparative tests the past season. The American 

 Wonder, Little Gem, and Advancer are medium early wrinkled 

 varieties ; and these are followed in their season of ripening by 

 the Clmmpion of England, Blue Im[)erial, and Tall and Dwarf 

 Marrowfats. 



The Stratagem is fast becoming one of the leading late varieties. 

 It is of large size, a heavy yielder, and of the best quality ; and 

 has the advantage over other varieties of being much easier to 

 pick. The number of bushels of i)ods raised from a bushel of seed 

 varies from one hundred to one hundred and lift}', and tiie price 

 usuall}' averages about one dollar per bushel. 



Pei'imcks. — This crop is but little grown in the market garden, 

 and indeed is nowhere raised to any great extent, except in the 

 home garden for a family supply. Those raised in the market 

 gardens are mainly sold to the pickle factories. The plants while 

 young are very tender, and require starting early, and careful 

 treatment under glass. They should be treated in the same man- 

 ner as egg plants or other vegetables of tropical nature. Light 



