CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 413 



drive strong end stakes on both sides of the rows, and 

 plastering lath at intervals of 8 or 10 feet. The lath are 

 driven opposite each other, brought together at the top 

 and tied. Strands of common wrapping cotton are then 

 stretched on both sides, from stake to stake as close to- 

 gether as may be necessary to give the proper support. 



562. Harvesting and marketing. Care must be taken 

 to harvest the crop before the peas have hardened. When 

 sold to canneries, peas are shelled by machinery, and the 

 shelled peas passed through screens of various-sized 

 meshes, the smallest peas bringing the highest prices. 

 Profits are sacrificed if the crop is cut too soon. The 

 peas are sometimes shelled before marketing, although 

 they are generally sold in the pod in half-bushel and 

 bushel baskets or hampers. If the peas are plunged in 

 cold water before sending to local markets they will 

 retain their plumpness and reach the market in better 

 condition than if shipped direct from the field. With 

 the early varieties, two or three pickings will remove 

 practically the entire crop; the vines should then be 

 plowed down and some other crop started. Gross re- 

 ceipts vary from $40 to $100 an acre, and sometimes even 

 more. The cost of picking is the heaviest expense. 



563. Enemies. The pea aphis (Nectarophora destruc- 

 tor) is one of the most serious pests. It attacks the 

 terminals of the young vines and soon destroys their 

 vitality. Often large areas become infested and entire 

 crops destroyed when conditions are favorable for breed- 

 ing. Early planting or very late planting for canneries 

 may be the means of escaping serious attacks. Kero- 

 sene emulsion is the standard treatment, which should 

 be applied on both sides of the leaves as soon as the 

 insects appear. Tobacco dust sprinkled on the young 

 plants as soon as they are up is also valuable. 



THE PEA WEEVIL (Bruchus pisorum) produces heavy 

 losses sometimes. To avoid trouble from this pest, seed 



