The Carden 
VoLUME XXIII 
VERY good gardener—and every sincere garden lover 
whether or not “‘good” in the sense of being successful 
—is at heart an investigator, something of a scientist. 
This is, perhaps, partly because he or she deals directly 
and at first hand with Nature; for Nature’s garden is one 
great laboratory. But it results also from the opportunity 
that is offered to change and modify the conditions under 
which the development of the garden and its inhabitants take 
place. An extra hour’s digging or raking, an added handful 
of commercial fertilizer, the doubling or halving of the water 
supply, the judicious choice of a particular variety—each of 
these actions, simple in itself, may bring about striking varia- 
tion in the ultimate results. 
Then, too, there is the tremendous influence of seed selec- 
tion, a science in itself, of course, and in its highest develop- 
ment, far beyond the reach of the amateur vegetable or 
flower grower. For it requires the careful study of types, 
scientific uniformity of treatment, continuous detailed scru- 
tiny and the maturing of every plant, all of which inevitably 
clash with the primary purpose of the backyard or frontyard 
garden. And yet every person who buys a packet of seed can 
profitably practice this selection in its simplest form—by 
merely separating out and planting only the largest of the 
seeds. This means discarding all the shriveled, undersized, 
cracked or chipped ones; and it means, of course, a little 
heavier expense. But it means also results—and is that not 
what we garden makers are after? 
Professor Cummings, of the Vermont Experiment Station, 
has made careful tests to ascertain the truth of just this 
theory, and reports that the use of large, heavy seed gave, in 
the case of Sweet Peas, “earlier blossoming, a larger total 
number of blossoms, and a larger number of blossoms of good 
quality”; also, “plants grown from large seed are heavier 
and bear more and longer lateral branches’; in the case of 
lettuce, “larger seedlings, and increased weight of edibly 
matured plants, in short, augmented earliness and quality”; 
in the case of spinach, “heavier plants, more and larger leaves, 
stalks and general earlier yield’; and in the case of parsley, 
“larger and earlier foliage; and greater recuperative powers” » 
when cut back. 
DPN CK 
THE article on peas, which Mr. Kruhm contributed to the 
& April GARDEN MAGAZINE, deserves to be studied with 
much care by the reader who really appreciates quality 
in that most delicate of vegetables. It is not so much on 
account of the particular recommendations, since they, like 
all individual judgments, are likely to be modified by indi- 
vidual prejudices or preferences. It is because of what Mr. 
Kruhm tells concerning the nature of the pea itself and its 
proneness to variation and change, that the article merits 
peculiar attention. In peas, especially, the point of view is of 
importance. A seedsman may have a totally different atti- 
tude from that of a majority of his customers among home 
gardeners. Strains of peas, from the seed growers’ stand- 
point, are considered good, indifferent or bad, as the case may 
be, according to the uniformity in height of plant, number of 
pods to the vine, uniformity in shape of pods and number 
plus quality of peas to the pod. The factor which most inter- 
ests home gardeners (i. e., quality) ranks last when it comes 
to judging peas from a commercial standpoint. During the 
MAY,1916 
Magazine 
NumBEerR 4 
last few years the growing of seed peas in this country has 
undergone a revolution, concerning which Mr. Kruhm writes: 
“T would like to ‘break a lance’ for the American seed trade 
as a whole. About eight or ten years ago the necessity con- 
fronted the growers of moving to virgin territory and new 
fields, since the weevils were too great a nuisance in Eastern 
sections. The region just west of the Yellowstone Park, on 
both sides of the Bitter Root Mountain range in both Mon- 
tana and Idaho, was found to be the American paradise for 
peas. Almost over night, the country around there became 
the centre of the American seed pea industry. 
“Here was a new country, with new men, most of whom 
were practically ‘green’ hands in the business of seed pro- 
duction. They codperate with Nature to the best of their 
ability and make the ground yield bountiful crops. But the 
ideals as to ‘what is what’ among peas, which it took decades 
to instill into the minds of the old pea growers in the East, 
could not be transferred to the new growers in a hurry and, 
as a result, our best strains of peas are less uniform to-day 
than they were eight or ten years ago. 
“No one in particular is to blame for that. Thousands of 
dollars are expended by all conscientious seedsmen every 
year for ‘rogueing’ the fields, i. e., pulling out tall vines from 
among dwarf sorts, and vice versa. But it takes a long time 
to ‘fix’ ideals in the minds of men, and unless ideals are fixed, 
strains of peas cannot become firmly fixed. 
“So, if you find a tall vine once in a while among your 
dwarf peas or a smaller vine with smaller pods among your 
tall, late sorts, don’t ‘kick,’ but be satisfied that your seeds- 
man is doing his duty every day and that you are getting seed 
peas that will produce thriftier vines with more pods of 
larger size containing grains of better quality than you ever 
got before.” 
BNO 
AMONG the types of farming suggested as “sure and 
4 easy money makers” for inexperienced back-to-the- 
landers, broken down clerks, distressed widows and such 
potential buyers of abandoned farms and other country prop- 
erty, the raising of drug plants has come in for a generous 
share of attention. But the public conscience is awakening 
to the right of people to know all the truth in such matters, 
whether pleasant or otherwise, and in response, the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture has recently issued a bulletin dealing 
with the advantages and drawbacks of these crops. 
Apparently the latter are in the majority, at least as far 
as the average, general farmer is concerned. The real op- 
portunities await experienced and well equipped specialists 
who can make a study, not only of the details of production, 
but also of the demands and tendencies of the decidedly lim- 
ited market. In other words it is becoming increasingly 
necessary to practice modern manufacturing methods in rais- 
ing and improving the raw material, in manufacturing and 
refining the finished product, and in handling the commercial 
end of the business—little of which can be accomplished by 
the small, old-fashioned, backyard cultivator. There will be 
some, of course, who will studiously disregard these facts 
and warnings—and achieve notable success. But their ex- 
periences must be taken as the “exceptions that prove the 
rule.”’ Average men and women will do exceedingly well to 
move slowly and with caution in entering this field. 
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