DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



65 



in recent catalogs of the firm. Whether the Queen listed 

 by Northrup or the Queen described under the Telephone 

 group, is either of the above, cannot now be ascertained. 

 The former apparently belongs in this group tho rather 

 tall, 3 1 ■> feet, and probably in this section. 



Sutton Excelsior. Refs. 86, 87; Farquhar Cat. 

 1902. This Excelsior originated with Culverwell about 

 1887 from a Paragon x American Wonder cross, and after 

 being grown and watched for 10 years was introduced 

 in 1896 by Sutton. It was brought to America in 

 1902 by Farquhar. It has been widely grown in both 

 England and America and is still listed by at least a 

 hundred seedsmen in this country. Probably thru its 

 popularity over a quarter of a century Sutton Excelsior 

 has developed markedly different strains; as noted here, 

 and as will be seen from figures given for the variety 

 by two leading seed growers: Height, A, 1} % feet, 

 B. 2' 4 feet; pod length. A, 3 1 4 inches, B, 4 inches; 

 time to table use. A, 64 days, B, 80 days. 



Owing to these differences, we have selected for description 

 the strain grown here from seed from the Minnesota Experiment 

 Station, where special studies of garden peas had been made. This 

 strain seems in most characteristics midway between differing 

 extremes. Height, 1 3 4 to 2 feet; stem stout but drooping, with 

 short internodes, many branches both basal and medial; foliage 

 varying witn tne strain, abundant to dense, dark green, with leaf- 

 lets in 4s, large, broad, slightly glaucous, little or not at all whitened, 

 and stipules considerably larger, round-tipped i sharp-tipped on 

 one strain', lightly clasping, with teeth to mid-margin, decidedly 

 whitened and quite glaucous; tendrils not prominent; flowers from 

 6th to 8th node, white or show a slight bluish shade, borne singly 

 on short, thick stalks; pods rather uneven in length, sometimes 

 3'. inches, but mostly 3 to 3 3 v inches, broad, only moderately 

 plump, very slightly curved, not filled to edge but filled to the 

 rounded or blunt, straight-tipped end, smooth or slightly wrinkled 

 on the surface, light green in color I other strains show darker pods i ; 

 peas 4 to 6, large, indented, oblong, yellowish green or light green, of 

 good, but not the best flavor; seeds rather large, oblong, flattened, 

 well wrinkled, cream and light grayish green in color. With us 

 all the strains are almost, but not quite first early, the usually 

 considered second early, and, as noted above, in some instances 

 fully midseason; and all gave good to very good yields. 



Reading Gem (Ref. 101) was introduced by Sutton 

 in 1922; and was grown at this Station in 1926 from 

 seed from the U. S. Department of Agriculture plats at 

 McMillan, Mich. It is a promising variety, probably 

 not yet commercially introduced in America. 



Rather distinct in type, only 1 foot tall, very vigorous; stem 

 stout, erect, unbranched; foliage abundant, medium to light green, 

 decidedly glaucous and much whitened on the stipules, with leaflets 

 medium in size and regular in shape, and stipules very much larger, 

 with rounded tips, serrate on about one-third of the margin, moder- 

 ately clasping, flowers from 6th node, medium to large, creamy 

 white with green center, on moderately short, medium stout stalks; 

 pods long, usually 3 ' 2 to 3 " g inches, but occasionally less than 3 

 inches, moderately broad, very plump, sometimes thicker than 

 broad, slightly saddle-backed, straight, blunt at the ends, with large 

 •ips. light green in color: peas 4 to 8, averaging 5 or 6, very large, 

 scarcely indented, oblong or wedge-shaped, medium green in color, 

 of fair to good quality; seeds very much like those of Sutton Ex- 

 celsior but rather more wrinkled. It is a first early in season and 

 bears well to very well. 



DAISY SECTION 

 Tho the section is named from Daisy, this pea is 

 not described here. It has already been treated under 



the Wrinkled, Cream-seeded Group, where better placed, 

 the character of the seeds being generally of higher deter- 

 minative value than habit of growth. The peculiar 

 " bunchy " character of the upper part of the plants, due 

 to retardation in development of the internodes between 

 the higher blossoming nodes, shown markedly in the old 

 Crown pea, has led, however, to several peas being called 

 " Daisy type " peas or said to be " similar to Daisy," 

 and the large-podded peas so characterized have been 

 placed in this section. With this characteristic in mind, 

 in grouping of the leaves, buds, flowers and young pods 

 more or less in clusters at the tips of the stems, with 

 usually a lightening or faint yellowing of the developing 

 upper leaves — to justify inclusion of the variety here, 

 the other plant and pod characters may differ markedly 

 from those of Daisy ; so that descriptions cannot be related 

 to that variety as has been done in other groups in which 

 one or more type varieties combined many characters 

 common to several others of the group. 



British Wonder. Refs. 91-104. British Wonder 

 was raised by Berberry, a seedsman of Kenilworth, Eng. 

 It was introduced by Taber and Cullen about 1890, and 

 is probably a selection from American Wonder; it was 

 sent to the United States Department of Agriculture for 

 trial in 1,903 by Squier and was introduced in the United 

 States by Burpee, in the tollowing year, after growing 

 seed from an original English stock for several years. 

 It was grown here recently and proved quite like the 

 introducer's description: 



Rather taller, 1 ' 2 to 2 feet; stem stout, rigid, erect, with a few 

 drooping branches; foliage abundant, medium green, un whitened, 

 somewhat clustered at the top like Daisy, with leaflets in 5s and 6s, 

 rather large and broad, and slightly larger, round-tipped, moderately 

 clasping stipules, serrate to above the middle; flowers at 7th node; 

 pods single, on long, medium heavy stalks 3 1 * to 3)2 inches long, 

 medium in breadth and plumpness, wrinkling rather early, straight, 

 usually well filled, with blunt ends and distinct straight tips, 

 medium green in color, not specially attractive; peas 5 to 8, large, 

 seldom dented, oval or oblong, dark green in color, of good quality; 

 seeds large, 80 to the ounce, in about equal proportions cream and 

 semi-smooth or little wrinkled, and green and well wrinkled. The 

 variety apparently differs in pea quality with the varying propor- 

 tions of cream and green seeds, as they were reported very sweet 

 in cooking tests at South Dakota Station in 1903, and medium in 

 sweetness the next year. It is a midseason variety, giving a good 

 yield. 



Buttercup. Refs. 105; Stumpp 8s Walter Car. 

 1913. Buttercup originated with Carter about 1904, 

 probably as a selection from Daisy, of which it is said 

 to be a hardy form, with smoother seeds. It might be 

 placed with the dimpled -seeded peas. It reached the 

 United States in 1913, was soon listed by several firms 

 and is still retained by about as many, tho never very 

 well known. As grown here it was a marked illustration 

 of the change in seed character possible in a single season, 

 those sown being only moderately dimpled and rather 

 dull cream in color while those harvested were larger, 

 well wrinkled and with more light green than cream- 

 colored seeds. It showed the " Daisy " clustering of 

 foliage quite decidedly. 



More dwarf than British Wonder, with more medial branches, 

 but none from the base of the stem; foliage glaucous, dense, with 



