DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



27 



lish seedsman, said seed of Daniel O'Rourke came from 

 America; and Landreth maintains that the seed was 

 derived, through Early Burlington, from his own Extra 

 Early. Except for this Landreth letter, which is very 

 straightforward and positive, credit for Daniel O'Rourke 

 is given to Waite, who offered it in England in 1853, as 

 being a week earlier than Early Emperor, with large pods 

 and a better yielder. It was named from the Derby 

 winner of the previous year, but neither origin nor his- 

 tory are given. It was listed in America within a year 

 of the English advertisement and was shown before the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society the following sea- 

 son. It soon became widely known, perhaps to a con- 

 siderable extent through the name, and in 1880 was 

 regarded as " still the most popular among myriads of 

 varieties of peas, new and old." Many of the partial 

 descriptions attempt to separate Daniel O'Rourke from 

 Sangster No. 1, Early Princess, Prince Albert and other 

 varieties; but it is very doubtful that any of these dis- 

 tinctions would hold under changed conditions for the 

 varieties compared. As early as 1868 both English and 

 American strains of O'Rourke were recognized. It was 

 carefully described in 1884 by Prof. Goff, whose charac- 

 ters, where comparable, differ but slightly from those of 

 plants recently grown at the Station for four seasons. 

 Improved Daniel O'Rourke was also grown at the Sta- 

 tion in 1893 (Bui. 69), for the World's Fair display, and 

 called " one of the best of the old varieties." In the 

 later comparisons, seed from the Idaho Station proved 

 to be untrue, or a degenerating strain, but that of Im- 

 proved Daniel O'Rourke gave plants typical of the origi- 

 nal variety as commonly described. Plants from the 

 Idaho seeds were tall, with long, sharp-pointed leaf- 

 lets and " rabbit-eared " stipules, unbranched, flowering 

 very high on stem, and producing long, many-seeded 

 pods, with very small seeds, — all signs of inferiority. 

 As is true of most " Improved " strains, that of Daniel 

 O'Rourke was soon pronounced identical with the origi- 

 nal. As Landreth claims identity, at origin, of Daniel 

 O'Rourke with Landreth's Extra Early, it is of interest 

 to note how very few are the points of difference between 

 the two as grown at the Station in the same season and 

 in adjoining rows tho not exactly side by side. 



The Landreth variety is given first in each comparison : Height 

 2 1 l '-2}4', 2'-2 1 J '; stem round, angular; branches lacking, few; 

 flowers 8th node, 8th-l lth; pods single or few pairs, single; pods 

 2 1 , 2 T S inches, 2> 4 3 inches; not always filled to tip, filled; peas 

 medium size, large; sown April 27, ready 57 days, 59, and in another 

 season, sown May 1, 56 days, 56: crop good, good to very good. 

 In practically every case, differences can be accounted for by slight 

 variations in vigor of seeds from different sources; and in the 

 remainder of almost 100 points of possible difference the check 

 marks were the same. 



First Crop. Refs. 120; U. S. Comr. Agr. Rpt. 

 1865:29. 1866; Hogg Gard. Yr. Bk. 14:76. 1873. 

 First Crop was distributed by Carter in 1864, but 

 in 1865 was acknowledged by both Carter and Sutton 

 to be identical with Sutton's Ringleader. Separately, 

 each seedsman obtained from the same grower (now 

 unknown) stock of a very carefully selected strain of 

 peas, which each distributed under a new name. Both 



for some time maintained that the strain was distinct 

 from others, like Sherwood's Railway and Dillistone 

 Early, with which most authorities considered it identi- 

 cal. Ringleader was perhaps most widely distributed in 

 England and general references will be found under 

 that name. The name First Crop came to America 

 first; and the strain under that name was carefully 

 described by Prof. Goff in 1884; none of the characters 

 he gives, however, would separate the strain from many 

 others of the Extra Early group. His synonyms are 

 those commonly associated with the two names, and he 

 says the strain was a selection from Early Kent. It 

 was also grown here in 1893. 



Ringleader. Refs. 119-121; Gard. Chron. 233. 

 1866; Denaiffe L. P. P. 107. 1906; Jour. Roy. Hort. 

 Soc. 32:336. 1907. As stated under First Crop, Sut- 

 ton's Ringleader was distributed by Sutton in 1864, and 

 the two varieties were declared identical in 1865; but 

 the strain was claimed in 1866 not to be the same as 

 other varieties of the group and period. The descrip- 

 tions given do not suffice to show distinctions that wculd 

 not disappear under other conditions or within a few 

 years. Denaiffe makes comparisons of First Crop with 

 Caractacus, which was advertised in 1865; but admits 

 that the latter variety varies greatly and that some 

 strains of it cannot be distinguished from First Crop 

 i Ringleader). 



An improved strain of Ringleader was distributed 

 some time before 1907, which was pronounced in the 

 Royal Horticultural Society gardens only a " fine 

 stock " of the old variety. 



No records of Ringleader were found in American 

 literature, but Improved Ringleader was grown at the 

 Station for two seasons. 



Seeds larger and more pitted than seeds of similar varieties 

 grown in the United States; foliage decidedly lighter green than 

 that of Landreth Extra Early, leaflets broader and stipules larger, 

 pods the same in size, slightly broader, not so well filled to the edges, 

 and with fewer peas, so that these were larger than those of Extra 

 Earlies commonly run; 48 days from late sowing to picking, 56 

 from early; crop was good. 



Dickson First and Best. Refs. 122, 123; Gard. 

 Chron. 1185. 1864; Ibid. 172. 1866; Ibid. 701, 1172. 

 1867; Ibid. 660. 1868. Dickson (1) announced this 

 pea in 1854, contemporaneously with the preceding 

 two strains. It was soon declared identical with them; 

 and pronounced by the Royal Horticultural Society, in 

 1866, " a very pure strain of Dillistone Early; " in 1867, 

 " a first class selection from Sangster No. 1," two days 

 later than Dillistone, a stronger grower and free bearer; 

 and in 1868, " a good selected stock, same as Daniel 

 O'Rourke." The petals of most of these strains were 

 evidently creamy in color, as special attention was 

 called to the whiteness of flowers of Carpenter Express 

 and Sangster No. 1. The latter variety and this First 

 and Best were said to show no frost injury where other 

 varieties were severely affected. It was first grown in 

 the United States, as First and Best Early, in 1865. 



Dickson First and Best was grown here for two 

 i seasons, from seed received from the Idaho Station. 



