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THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



EXTRA EARLY GROUP 



The name Extra Early must be considered, not as 

 the name of a particular variety, though it has been, 

 and still is, so used; but rather of a group of varieties 

 of similar type. Many of these have the words as part 

 of the name; while others bear more distinctive designa- 

 tions, but are equally " Extra Earlies." 



Group characteristics. — In general the Extra 

 Early group is characterized by very early season, 

 slender vines, varying in length from below l'j feet 

 to above 2 ' ■_• feet, according to conditions and the rigor 

 of selection for dwarfness, with internodes medium in 

 length or above, unbranched or with a few, small, basal 

 branches: medium to light green, rather scanty to 

 fairly abundant foliage, consisting of four leaflets of 

 medium size and regular shape, and two much larger 

 stipules with rounded tips and teeth usually about one- 

 third of the way from base to tip, of the same basal 

 color as the leaflets but more whitened; with flowers 

 beginning at 8th to 9th node, or 10th to 11th on taller 

 vines, generally single but occasionally paired; with 

 pods from 2 ' ( to 2 ' ■_> inches or somewhat longer or 

 shorter in a few varieties, plump, straight or slightly 

 curved, having blunt ends and small tips, generally 

 well filled; peas 5 or 6 in number, round, smooth, more 

 or less oval longitudinally, light green or whitish green 

 in color, usually of poor color when cooked unless used 

 early as " petit pois," soon becoming hard, starchy and 

 rather tasteless; seeds round, smooth or very slightly 

 pitted, cream or slightly salmon tinted in color, often 

 almost white especially over certain parts of the pea, or 

 rarely with some seeds light green, with cotyledons 

 yellow or light orange and radicle obscure; weighing 

 from 125 to 150 or more to the ounce. 



History. — This group, undoubtedly most com- 

 plicated of any in names and synonyms, has varied 

 little, except in minor ways: and it is probable that the 

 earliest types showed individual plants hardly distin- 

 guishable in some group characteristics, such as habit, 

 precocity, shape and arrangement of pods, number of 

 peas in pod, quality of peas and size and shape of seeds, 

 from plants in varieties or types now grown. 



The type unquestionably shows marked improve- 

 ment ; but the advance has consisted in grouping in a new 

 variety or strain more of the desirable characteristics; 

 and, especially, in securing uniformity and permanence 

 of these characters. This has probably been done, in 

 practically all cases, by selection, possibly with some 

 accidental crossing; for no introduction of new blood 

 is definitely recorded. The new varieties, unless con- 

 scientiously rogued or selected, rapidly degenerated, 

 returning, in hands of different growers, partially or 

 almost completely to the parent variety. Some one 

 again " improved " the stock and gave it a new name. 

 The introducer, or other growers of the pea, sustained 

 his claims of superiority by comparison, intentional 

 or incidental, with some of the deteriorating strains 

 the earlier variety; while other growers, who were 



fortunate enough to have carefully selected strains of the 

 parent variety to compare with its offspring, pronounced 

 the latter no improvement; and relegated the new name 

 to the list of synonyms. This process, repeated thru 

 three centuries in England, France, Germany and 

 Holland, and later very extensively in America, has 

 given us multitudes of synonyms, often repeatedly 

 interlocked, and of present names, for varieties practi- 

 cally identical for all horticultural purposes, but with 

 slight differences which justify at least part of the 

 current names. 



Descriptions of early varieties of peas are usually 

 very meagre; but the progenitor of the Extra Early 

 peas was undoubtedly included, in 1629, in Parkinson's 

 Reference 1) "French pease" at some time brought 

 from France, " or Fulham pease " from the locality 

 near London where they succeeded best. These were 

 very early, hardy, smooth, white peas, with " climbing " 

 vines. Enough of the characters of the Rouncivals, 

 Hastings, Rose, Spotted, Gray, and " Peas without 

 skins " are mentioned by Parkinson, to exclude these 

 as sources from which Extra Early came. The Hot- 

 spurs followed the early type, but just when they origi- 

 nated, or what, if any, named varieties preceded them in 

 their development from the " French pease " is unknown. 

 The Messrs. Lawson say that Hotspur dates back to 

 1670; and the name in some of its modifications con- 

 tinued for at least a century. Some of the Hotspurs 

 or " Hots " headed the list of earliest peas during most 

 of the century, but about 1750 the variety, or the name, 

 " Early Charlton," from " Charlton Hotspur," became 

 common, and remained popular until displaced by Early 

 Frame about 1770. For another hundred years Early 

 Frame held a place in many catalogs, and is even listed 

 by Vilmorin in 1926 under one of its synonyms, Michaux 

 ordinaire; but early in the nineteenth century " im- 

 proved " forms began to displace it, or to be grown 

 simultaneously with it. In England, however, with 

 the advent of Knight's Marrows and other high quality 

 peas, interest in the starchy types diminished, so that 

 no really distinct strains of Extra Early appeared for 

 about 70 years; but American growers, working on 

 stocks which came from England or from France, 

 announced several varieties during the first half of the 

 19th century. In 1823 Landreth introduced his Extra 

 Early, the first strain to bear the group name, and this 

 is still extensively cataloged, as, when well selected, it 

 holds its own well with the hundred other strains of the 

 group. This was followed about 1827 by Early Wash- 

 ington, Early Dwarf, Early June and others; while in 

 England, and later coming to America, some leading 

 kinds have been Early Warwick or Racehorse, Early 

 Emperor, Prince Albert, and Early Kent. 



Practically all of the early names and strains, 

 except Landreth's, have now disappeared, tho some 

 of them still appear in the lists of a few old-time 

 seedsmen. 



