PEAS 111 



growth. Peas are thus an uncertain crop when the weather is 

 hot, and their culture should be confined to the part of the year 

 that is Ukely to be cool. In the South they may be grown in the 

 fall and winter, and a fall crop is occasionally grown in central 

 latitudes, but the yield is usually light, for the crop must be started 

 while the weather is still warm and the plants thus become stunted. 

 The early spring crop is the most satisfactory one in central and 

 even northern latitudes. 



Size of Plants. — Different varieties of peas produce different 

 sized plants. Those under two feet in height are usually desig- 

 nated as dwarf; those between two and four feet, medium or 

 half-dwarf, and those over four feet, tall. The dwarf , varieties 

 may be grown without support and hence are usually preferred 

 for commercial plantations. The medium and tall varieties are 

 supported by means of brush, wire netting, or strands of wire 

 stretched on either side of the row. The medium and tall varieties, 

 by reason of their size and their supports, must be planted in rows 

 farther apart than the dwarf varieties. This is to allow space for 

 tillage and for pickers. Sometimes the seed is planted in double 

 rows, the. two rows of a pair being six to eight inches apart, and 

 the pairs being three to four feet apart. In that case one line of 

 supports is sufficient for the double row. The space between the 

 two rows of a pair can be tilled with hand tools early in the season 

 before the supports are put in place. Later tillage can take place 

 only in the wide spaces. This arrangement of rows was formerly 

 more popular than at present. The usual plan now is to plant 

 both tall and dwarf varieties in single rows. For the very dwarf est 

 varieties, which do not grow much over a foot in height, the rows 

 may be made from eighteen inches to two feet apart. Two and 

 a half to three feet is a better distance between the rows for varie- 

 ties that make vines two feet long. As the crop approaches matu- 

 rity the vines fall over, and the distance between the rows should 

 be slightly greater than the length of the vines in order to avoid 

 serious tangling and consequent trouble in picking. Varieties 

 requiring support should be in rows three to four feet apart, 

 preferably four. This allows room for horse tillage after the sup- 

 ports are set. 



Peas are sown so that the seeds are one to two inches apart 

 in the row. The plants are never thinned, except occasionally 

 by cutworms. The depth of planting varies somewhat, but is 

 usually two to three inches. 



