392 GARDENING FOB THE SOUTH. 



where the winters are mild, American Wonder and Pre- 

 mium Gem peas may be planted from the last of Novem- 

 ber until March ; Horsford's Market Garden, etc., in 

 February; and the later kinds until early in April, and 

 for a fall crop in August to come into use in October. 



Near New York city they are planted from as early in 

 March as the ground opens, until late in May. The dis- 

 tance of the rows apart will depend upon the variety. 

 They should not be nearer to each other than the height 

 to which the sort planted generally attains. Tom Thumb 

 may be planted only fifteen inches apart from row to row, 

 but as it is a branching sort, the plants may be five or six 

 inches in the row. It is usual to plant in double rows, 

 from nine to twelve inches asunder, leaving the distance 

 above directed between each pair of rows. The sticks 

 are set midway between the double rows, supporting 

 the vines of both. It is maintained by many that from 

 its more full exposure to the air and sun a single row will 

 produce as much as two. The tall later sorts are far more 

 fruitful if the rows are put twenty or thirty feet apart, 

 and the space between occupied with other crops. 



It is best to plant the early crop in rows running east 

 and west, that the sun may warm the ridge of soil drawn 

 up to the roots; but the rows of the main crop should run 

 north and south. Early peas should be planted in the 

 drills, about an inch apart; the medium growers an inch 

 and a half; while for the tall kinds two inches are not 

 too much. A quart of seed of these varieties will plant 

 not quite fifty yards of double rows, while a quart of early 

 peas will plant nearly seventy yards twice as thickly. 

 The soil with which they are covered should be chopped 

 fine, if lumpy, and in planting pressed upon the seed. 

 Better delay a little than plant when the ground is wet. 

 After the peas are about two inches high, hoe them well, 

 drawing the earth a little toward them, and loosening the 



