82 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



Nott's Excelsior, (Maule):A dwarf sort about 1 foot in height; 5 or 

 6 peas to the pod; matures in 50 to 55 days. Has received many 

 favorable comments during- the past 4 or 5 years. 



The above are only a few of the many sorts which might be men- 

 tioned in the connection of "new varieties" but to increase the list 

 woud be doubtless to increase the indecision if one were selecting 

 varieties for planting. 



In our comparison of varieties such well known sorts as American 

 Wonder, Heroine, Stratagem, Telephone, Abundance, and several 

 others of like reputation have been taken as the standard of excel- 

 lence. 



Of the smooth peas, we will simply make mention of the follow- 

 ing varieties: Maud S., Sunol, Summit, Rural New Yorker, Alaska, 

 Daniel O'Rourke Improved. These varieties have no marked distinc- 

 tive characteristics aside from the type and their chief value lies in 

 the earliness of maturity. 



It will be observed that in the foregoing descriptions considerable 

 latitude is given for the time required by the different varieties 

 to reach edible maturity. This wide variation is given from the fact 

 the season has considerable influence upon the time required to reach 

 edible maturity, the number of days being less in a warm than in 

 a cold season. The same difference is noticeable in the time required 

 for the maturity of early and late sowed peas of the same variety. 



IV— NOTES ON CABBAGES. 



The attention given to cabbages during the past season, as hereto- 

 fore,was confined chiefly to the study of different methods of culture. 

 Several questions regarding the subject, which have previously re- 

 ceived little if any attention, have been investigated. 



The seed was all sown April 1st in the forcing house, and the 

 plantlets pricked out into seed flats April 27th where they were al- 

 lowed to remain until May 25th, when they were all set in the field. 



The season was exceptionally dry and although the plants did not 

 suffer from lack of moisture sufficiently to cause them to wilt yet 

 they made a less vigorous growth and consequently smaller heads 

 than would have been the case if there had been more rain. 



1. Influence of size of seed. It has been thought by some that 

 the amount of leaf surface relative to the size of the head, is in- 

 fluenced by the size of the seed, the supposition being that plants 

 from large seeds run to leaf at the expense of the head, while with 

 plants from small seed the tendency is the opposite. 



That we might assertain, if possible, the accuracy of this view, three 

 varieties of seed were chosen, from each variety of which were 

 selected fifty of the largest seeds, also fifty of the smallest. The seeds 

 were all sowed and when the plantlets were ready for the first 

 handling", twenty of the best specimens from each lot were pricked 

 out into seed flats and then treated as already described. 



The comparative results are given in Table I. 



