New Potatoes. 281 



sally regarded as one of the best of the kinds now in cultivation ; and it 

 comes to us with the highest testimonials of its productiveness and excel- 

 lence. It is described as belonging to the class of " Early Green Marrows," 

 and attains a height of three or four feet. The pods, which are produced 

 in pairs, measure nearly five inches in length ; while some samples exhib- 

 ited in London yielded fourteen peas each. 



It is well known that most of the peas noted for extreme earliness are 

 those with small, round, smooth seeds, which harden quickly, and soon 

 become unfit for the table. Besides this defect, these peas are wanting 

 in the tender, sugary properties so long retained and so highly prized in a 

 later or intermediate group known as " Wrinkled Marrows." To obtain 

 one of this class of peas that should be as early as our " first earlies," 

 and which should at the same time have all the qualities of the marrows, 

 has long been the wish and aim of English cultivators. This desideratian 

 Mr. Laxton now claims to have secured ; and such a pea is this spring for 

 the first time offered in the seed-houses in London, and possibly, though 

 we have not seen it, in those of this country. It has been named 

 " William /," and is described as a wrinkled blue marrow, as early as 

 Sangster's No. i, or Dan. O'Rourke, and as producing very large pods. 

 "The Gardener's Chronicle " pronounces it "a grand acquisition truly." 



The supply of seeds of these new peas must necessarily be quite lim- 

 ited ; and they will, of course, be sonaewhat expensive. Offered, however, 

 as they are in small parcels, it is to be hoped they may find their way to 

 the gardens of some of our experienced growers, where their real merits 

 and value for cultivation in our climate may be determined. 



Fearing Burr. 



NEW POTATOES. 



The general interest just now manifested in the culture of the potato is 

 certainly remarkable. Scarcely a paper passes our hands that does not 

 contain something relating to the subject. Descriptions of new varieties, 

 directions for planting and tilling, statements of remarkable earliness, 

 records of crops incredible, and directions for the production of new sorts, 

 meet our eye on almost every page. 



VOL. V. 36 



