PEAS. 



177 



account of the latter reason, gardeners plant the round seed 

 first in the spring and do not plant the wrinkled kinds until 

 the soil is in best condition and somewhat warmed. The 

 wrinkled kinds are better in quality than the round and smooth 

 varieties. Peas having edible pods are not popular in this 



country, probably because of 

 the ease with which string- 

 beans are grown. 



Culture. Peas may be grown 

 successfully in almost any 

 good soil ; they even do 

 well on rather poor soil. 

 The smooth seed sorts should 

 be planted as soon as the 

 ground can be worked in the 

 spring— even a hard freeze does 

 not hurt the pi ants as they are 

 coining out of the ground, and 

 they will stand considerable 

 frost when well up. The dis- 

 tance between the rows and 

 the seeds in the row depends 

 somewhat on the kinds grown. 

 Some kinds branch out far 

 more than others and, conse- 

 quently, need more room in 

 the row. They also vary in 

 length of stem from a few 

 inches to six or seven feet. The tall kinds require the rows to be 

 five or six feet apart, while dwarf varieties are generally 

 planted in rows thirty inches to three feet apart. The grow- 

 ing of tall kinds is mostly confined to private gardens, where 

 it is customary to use brush or other material in the rows 

 for a support. Formerly, among tall varieties, were those far 

 excelling in quality anything found among those of a dwarf 

 habit, but recent introductions of the latter kinds have 

 shown a great improvement in quality, until now the dwarf 

 sorts are generally grown, even by the most fastidious. 

 In common practice, the seed is sown about four inches 

 deep, in rows three feet apart, putting about ten seeds to 



Fig. 9-4.— Nott's Excelsior pea. 



