DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



51 



half slightly pitted or dimpled, while those bought in 

 1926 from the same company, tho showing the same gen- 

 eral size and color, would be classed without hesitation 

 as wrinkled peas. The pods show slight variations 

 also: and are much more rounded at the ends than those 

 of other dimpled peas, often square. They are quite 

 even in size, from 2; 5 4 to 3's inches long, moderately 



broad, almost plump and straight. They soon show a 

 finely netted deep wrinkling, which with their some- 

 what light green color would apparently make them 

 rather poor market peas. The pods set low, and are 

 single, yet give a fair crop, ready in midseason. The 

 stems are 3 to 3^ feet tall, moderately stout, and often 

 branched both at the base and above. 



WRINKLED, CREAM SEEDED GROUP 

 As with the Dimpled -seeded Group, the varieties 

 included in our Wrinkled, Cream-seeded Group are 

 united by only one character, expressed in the name of 

 the group. This is a distinctive, and usually quite 

 constant, character; and allows a preliminary separation 

 of varieties by the seeds alone, something not possible 

 with succeeding groups of wrinkled peas. Many of the 

 varieties included might well fall in other groups, and a 

 few are mentioned in such groups, or the other group 

 is referred to under description of the variety included 

 here. There is a considerable variation in the degree 

 of wrinkling of the seeds of different varieties in the 

 group; and some varieties occasionally show some 

 admixture of greenish seeds, this condition being influ- 

 enced, tho less markedly, by soil or seasonal variations 

 which so noticeably affected the dimpled-seeded peas. 

 Usually the seeds of varieties included are practically 

 all cream- colored. Many of these trace to the " white- 

 seeded " varieties bred by Thos. Andrew Knight; but 

 it is not thought advisable to attempt any very strict 

 historical or chronological arrangement of the varieties, 

 except such as is indicated by the succession of names, 

 synonyms and dates as given in the grouped references. 

 Convenience has led to a series of sub-groups based 

 more or less definitely and more or less accurately on 

 the heights of the plants. 



MAJOR VARIETIES OF WRINKLED. CREAM- 

 SEEDED GROUP 



VERY DWARF PLANTS 



Minimum. Refs. 1, 2; N. Y. Sta. Rpt. 3:266. 

 1885. Except some peas grown in Europe for borders 

 and incidental pod production. Minimum is probably 

 the smallest cultivated pea, frequently being only 6 

 inches tall, tho bearing a fair load of pods. It is Lax- 

 ton's, introduced about 1880 by Hurst and brought to 

 the United States in 1882. It was tested at this Station 

 in 1884, and grown in many places in the country for at 

 least a decade; but the small size of the pods and the 

 low yields, except under practically forcing conditions 

 in hand-worked gardens, soon retired it from commerce. 

 The stems were very short-jointed, foliage light green, 

 and the short (1} ■> to 2 inch), straight, blunt-ended pods 

 were still paler. The seeds were very small. 



Sutton Harbinger (Refs. 4, 5) was introduced in 

 1898 and received an Award of Merit from the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in 1901, which was confirmed 

 in 1915, but not given in 1921. Our first American 

 record of it is dated 1903; it was still listed as late as 

 1919; and seed of it was received here from British 

 Columbia in 1922. It is very different from Laxton 



Harbinger, an Alaska-type pea probably never grown 

 in America. 



We found it a very dwarf, very early, heavy-cropping variety, 

 with distinctly shorter pods than those of Mighty Atom, borne 

 from 5th or 6th node up, blunt to square ended, and with from 3-5 

 light green peas, considerably smaller but of better quality than 

 those of Mighty Atom. 



Reading Wonder. Refs. 7; Burpee Cat. 1913. 

 Reading Wonder was introduced in 1908 by Sutton and 

 reached the United States in 1913. It was grown at 

 the Station for several seasons and also in the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture plats at McMillan, Mich. 

 The plants at McMillan, and those grown here from 

 seeds from that place, were taller and pods distinctly 

 larger than those we grew from British Columbia seed. 



It was dwarf to very dwarf, almost as early and yielding 

 about as well as Harbinger, with pods as long or longer than those 

 of Mighty Atom, and pointed or long-rounded like that variety, 

 not quite as well colored, with fewer and larger peas of decidedly 

 better quality. 



Clibran Masterpiece (Ref. 8), introduced by 

 Clibran within a very few years, is distinct from Suttcn 

 Masterpiece, a comparatively old, green, wrinkled main- 

 crop pea. 



Clibran's pea is not yet in commerce in this country; 

 but has been grown in the U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture plats at McMillan, Mich., and at this Station; 

 and for its good qualities and apparent resistance to 

 disease, it deserves further trial. 



It is exceedingly dwarf, 1 foot here: stems rather slender; 

 foliage abundant: pods 3 ! 4 to 3 a 4 inches- quite broad, moderately 

 plump, straight or slightly curved at the tips, with long-rounded 

 ends, not, with us, very well filled; peas 3 to 5, large, peculiarly 

 wedge-shaped, or almost conical opposite the hilum, of very good 

 quality; seeds very large, long oval and finely wrinkled. Crops 

 very good, early midseason. 



DWARF PLANTS 



Chelsea Gem. Refs. 14-16; Dreer Cat. 1896. 

 Chelsea Gem originated with Jas. Veitch about 1887; 

 and may have reached the United States in 1889 as 

 Chelsea, that name being found in American catalogs as 

 late as 1921 but apparently not used in England. Pos- 

 sibly Chelsea and Chelsea Gem are distinct, but the 

 descriptions agree closely. The latter name seems not 

 to have been used in America until 1896; and neither 

 name was found in recent catalogs. 



Seed of it. from Holland, was secured in 1922 thru 

 the Wisconsin Station and crops were grown for three 

 years. It was also grown here in 1890, but only brief 

 data regarding it were secured. 



Our late trials prove it still a fine variety, about 1?4 feet tall, a 

 week later than earliest wrinkled peas, with very good crops of pods 

 usually more than 3 inches long, medium green in color, decidedly 



