20 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



or differences in characteristics rather than detailed 

 statements of them. 



These groups, with some subdivisions, are: 



Extra Early 

 Tom Thumb 

 Marrowfat 



Seeds White 



Seeds Black-eyed 

 Alaska 

 Scimitar 



White-seeded 



Green-seeded 



Sabre type 

 Dunpled-Seeded 



White or Cream Seeds 



Green Seeds 

 Wrinkled. Cream-seeded 



Very Dwarf 



Dwarf 



Of Medium Height 



Tall 



Large-podded Dwarf 



Pointed-pod 



Blunt -pod 



Daisy type 

 Advancer 

 Stratagem 



Champion of England 

 Nc Plus Ultra 

 Telephone 

 Senator 

 Edible-podded 



White-seeded 



Butter Sugars 



Dark-seeded 

 Field peas 



Minor varieties in above groups 

 from Extra Early to Senator 

 Undescribed varieties 



In listing pea varieties we have used, as far as 

 possible, the principles applied in " Standardized Plant 

 Names," but since peas were not listed in that work 

 we had no satisfactory guide in many nomenclatural 

 puzzles. In such cases we have usually chosen the 

 simplest, or best known, of the names applied to a 

 variety. In many cases, especially in Edible-podded 

 peas, it was necessary to use complex names, usually 

 combinations of nouns, adjectives and adverbs, since 

 very similar combinations applied to distinct varieties. 

 In case of duplicated names of varieties liable to be 

 confused, we have generally prefixed the introducer's 

 name; as Sutton Hundredfold, Carter Hundredfold. 

 In such cases we have dropped the possessive sign; but 

 have retained this in names like Gardeners' Favorite. 



The numbers following the name of each variety 

 refer to similar numbers arranged consecutively, and as 

 far as possible, chronologically, for each variety and 

 for the group, which indicate citations to literature and 

 to catalogs giving historical, genetical and other informa- 

 tion relative to the variety, and the synonyms found 

 for it. These group references and synonyms are 

 collected at the end of the descriptive material, rather 

 than separately at the close of each group; which is 

 thought will make easier prompt location of the refer- 

 ence, especially since major and minor varieties of the 

 groups are separated. 



Additional references, without numbers, occur very 

 often in connection with the individual varieties. These 

 usually give information relative to the history of the 

 variety in the United States; but occasionally refer to 

 notes coming to the authors' attention after the main 

 lists had been compiled, when interpolation of the 

 reference in its proper place would have involved many 

 changes and would have been very liable to lead to errors. 



To economize space, names and synonyms are not 

 repeated, tho used for more than one variety, but the 

 number and place in the first reference to each are given 

 in subsequent citations. 



In following these descriptions of varieties the reader 

 must remember that they are based, wherever possible, 



on the characteristics and behavior of the plants on our 

 test plats; and that these differ, in many cases quite 

 noticeably, from those of the same varieties grown 

 elsewhere, even in the United States but particularly 

 in England and British Columbia, from which sources 

 seed of many varieties was secured. Tho on fairly good 

 pea soils, giving excellent yields in favorable seasons, our 

 pea-test plats are not high in fertility nor is this quickly 

 available; so that in seasons without abundant spring 

 moisture, particularly if temperatures were high, pea 

 plants were shorter than those grown elsewhere, the 

 pods smaller and less well filled, and the time to edible 

 maturity less. With the taller varieties the height 

 might be two feet, or even more, less than for the same 

 variety grown in England or British Columbia, or one 

 to two feet less than for the same varieties grown in 

 northern Michigan. With varieties of medium and 

 dwarf height the differences were less noticeable, but 

 almost without exception in the same direction. 



Differences in pod lengths corresponded in general 

 with lengths of the pods as given in original descriptions, 

 the discrepancy being greatest in those English varieties 

 like Quite Content, V. C and Giant Stride, which in 

 England showed numerous exhibition pods nine or ten 

 inches in length, but which with us rarely exceeded five 

 inches. Pods of varieties of the Telephone or Ne Plus 

 Ultra groups, reaching five or six inches in England, would 

 average an inch or so shorter with us ; while pods of the 

 Large-podded Dwarf, Wrinkled, Cream-seeded and Gem 

 groups compared fairly well in length with those grown 

 elsewhere. 



As would be expected, the shortening of the pods on 

 our plats was accompanied by a lessening of the number 

 of peas, usually due to failure of ovules near the end of 

 the pod to develop; and this caused a change in the degree 

 of plumpness of the end of the pod, " long-rounded " or 

 " rounded " pods becoming " pointed; " " blunt ended " 

 pods, " short rounded " or " rounded; " etc., altho these 

 variations were not usually great enough or extending 

 completely enough thru the variety to obscure the 

 classification as " pointed " or " blunt -ended " which 

 was used as a separatory group characteristic. 



As these deficiencies of peas on our soils were soon 

 recognized, much care was taken to secure checks on 

 them, by visits to other trial grounds and by correspond- 

 ence; and attention is called to such differences in the 

 descriptions of many varieties; but the reader must not 

 forget that with many varieties no such checking was 

 possible, and that in such cases the same factors were 

 operative on our plats to lessen the height of plants and 

 to alter the length and appearance of the pods as were 

 noted with the checked varieties. The descriptions 

 of any such varieties, therefore, probably picture the 

 pea as it would grow in normal or slightly sub-normal 

 conditions, rather than as it would be at its best. 



One very noticeable effect of our soil upon certain 

 seed characteristics was observed in one season, that of 

 1922. Before sowing the peas that year, samples of the 

 seed of all varieties were taken and placed in glass vials, 

 closely sealed and held in darkness to retard change in 



