CHAP. T. CULINARY VEGETABLES. 147 



shaded than where they are exposed during the whole of the 

 day to the full power of the sun. 



It is better to make a trial-sowing a week or so previous, in 

 order to determine how thickly the seeds should be sown, as 

 well as to check dishonesty on the part of the malee, who has 

 sometimes a trick of purloining the seeds from the ground after 

 they are sown, and then maintaining that they were too old 

 and bad to germinate. 



If in the trial- so wing only a small proportion be found to 

 germinate, it is perhaps the best plan to sow the whole batch 

 in a very light sandy soil in gumlahs, and then transfer to the 

 drills those that prove sound as soon as they have sprouted. 

 This plan it will be found advisable -to resort to, more particu- 

 larly with the wrinkled Marrowfats, which from their softness 

 and apparent immaturity often come to this country in a less 

 sound state than other kinds. 



If the seed, however, prove satisfactory, and nearly all good, 

 it may be sown in the drills in a single line a little less than 

 an inch apart. To sow more thickly would not only be to 

 waste the seed, but to have two or three crowded and emaciated 

 plants in the place of each stout and vigorous one. The earth 

 should be damp, as indeed it will be if the sowing is made 

 immediately after the, Bains; for later sowing it should be 

 watered twelve hours previously, to render it sufficiently moist. 

 The Peas, if sound, will sprout in three or four days ; but if, on 

 examining the sowing about the fourth day, by gently removing 

 the earth from the surface, they be found in a foul, dirty 

 condition with the moist earth clinging around them, it may 

 be decided that they are decayed, and preparation should be 

 immediately made for a fresh sowing. 



When the plants are about half a foot high they should be 

 earthed up : it is then also the best time to stick them before 

 they begin to fall about. The mode of sticking I adopt is to 

 make the sticks of every two rows lean together so as to cross 

 each other at about eight inches from their tops, and to tie 

 them where they cross. 



The plants need not be watered till they come into bearing, 

 when water may be advantageously applied, in order to keep 

 the Pea tender, and to prevent it from ripening too soon. 



To gather the pods when ready, the malee should be furnished 



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