96 GAEDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD. 



pends on the care with which they are selected for seed. 

 They have a constant tendency to degenerate on the one 

 hand, or to improve on the other, and a skillful and ex- 

 perienced grower, hy selecting the earliest peas and those 

 which are the most wrinkled, can very soon obtain a 

 strain of early peas which is certain to give satisfaction. 

 If, on the other hand, all the earliest pods are picked off 

 for your own table or for market, and those which are left 

 used for seed, you will soon have a strain of Early Kent 

 Peas that are no better than the Canada Creeper, or other 

 small, round, smooth, common field pea. Peas do not 

 mix, at any rate not readily or frequently, and a really 

 new variety is rarely found. Some valuable new kinds 

 have been obtained by artificial crossing. 



Of late years, much attention has been paid to the in- 

 troduction of dwarf varieties of peas, such as Tom Thumb, 

 Little Gem, and the American Wonder. The advantages 

 of the dwarf kinds are, that they do not need sticks, and 

 two or three times as many rows can be sown on the land. 



If, however, the only object of bushing is to lift up the 

 peas to a convenient hight for picking, we gain nothing 

 in this respect by sowing the dwarf kinds. It is quite as 

 tiresome 4o pick pods from, dwarf peas as it is from un- 

 bushed Early Kent, or Champion of England. Dwarf 

 peas should not be sown in rows less than fifteen inches 

 apart. The land should be rich, and kept well hoed and 

 entirely free from weeds. Dwarf peas, if sown in close 

 rows and the weeds allowed to grow, will not give satis- 

 faction. Green peas, to be tender and sweet, must be 

 grown rapidly, and for this they must have the richest of 

 land, and the best of cultivation. It is quite an object 

 to get a crop of peas late in the season, when the main 

 crop is all gone. For this purpose, late varieties, such as 

 Champion of England or Marrowfats are sown late in the 

 spring. In three years out of four, however, these late 

 sown, late varieties, are apt to mildew. The better way 



