ON THE PREVENTION OF MILDEW IX PARTICULAR CASES. 207 



isable matter into the seed-vessels must be retarded, and that it may 

 become the food of the parasitical plants, which then only may grow 

 luxuriant and injurious. 



This view of the subject, whether true or false, led me to the following 

 method of cultivating the pea late in the autumn, by which my table has 

 always been as abundantly supplied during the months of September and 

 October as in June and July ; and my plants have been very nearly as 

 free from mildew. The ground is dug in the usual way, and the spaces 

 which will be occupied by the future rows are well soaked with water. 

 The mould upon each side is then collected, so as to form ridges seven or 

 eight inches above the previous level of the ground, and these are well 

 watered ; after which the seeds are sowed, in single rows, along the tops 

 of the ridges. The plants very soon appear above the soil, and grow 

 with much vigour, owing to the great depth of the soil, and abundant 

 moisture. Water is given rather profusely once in every week or nine 

 days, even if the weather proves showery ; but if the ground be thoroughly 

 drenched with water by the autumnal rains, no further trouble is neces- 

 sary. Under this mode of management the plants will remain perfectly 

 green and luxuriant till their blossoms and young seed-vessels are des- 

 troyed by frost ; and their produce will retain its proper flavour, which is 

 always taken away by mildew*. 



The pea, which I have always planted for autumnal crops, is a very 

 large kind, of which the seeds are much shrivelled, and which grows very 

 high : it is now very common in the shops of London, and my name has, 

 I believe, been generally attached to it. I prefer this variety because it 

 is more saccharine than any other, and retains its flavour better late in 

 the autumn; but it is probable that any other late and tall-growing 

 variety will succeed perfectly well. It is my custom to sow a small 

 quantity every ten days till midsummer, and I rarely ever fail of having 

 my table well supplied till the end of October, though sometimes a severe 

 frost in the beginning of that month proves fatal to my later crops. 



The mildew of the peach, and of other fruit-trees, probably originates 

 in the same causes as the mildew of the pea, and may be prevented by 

 similar means. When the roots, which penetrate most deeply into the 

 soil, and are consequently best adapted to supply the tree with moisture 

 in the summer, are destroyed by a noxious subsoil, or by excess of moisture 

 during the winter, I have observed the mildew upon many varieties 



* One of the most experienced and close observers of our Society (Mr. Dickson) will pro- 

 bably recollect having seen my crops of peas in the state I have described, late in the autumn, 

 in my garden at Elton. 



