248 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



down every six feet each side of the drills, and lines of 

 twine stretched from one to the other. Pea brush is, how- 

 ever, the best, as the vines lay hold of it more readily. It 

 should be placed firm in the ground, betAveen the drills. 

 After brushing, draw up the earth on each side, to help 

 support the vine. Market gardeners do not employ brush 

 or twine, but let them fall over and bear what they will. 

 This does tolerably well with the early varieties, if the 

 spaces between the rows be filled with straw or leaves. 



Peas may be had in November, by sowing the early 

 kinds the last of August; but the crop is uncertain. A 

 little further south, peas may be planted not only in Au- 

 gust and September, but through the fall and early winter 

 months, and will continue in bearing until the warm wea- 

 ther comes on. They are very hardy, and the vines will 

 ordinarily bear a temperature of only 2® Fahrenheit, with- 

 out injury. If a hard frost occur while the plants are in 

 bloom, the crop is lost. 



Seed. — The seed for early peas should be raised in a 

 cold climate, as in this latitude, like many other plants, 

 they run into later varieties. The plants of the rows 

 intended for seed should not be gathered from for any 

 other purpose. When the pods begin to dry, gather and 

 dry them thoroughly, and store them in bottles, pouring 

 into each a little spirits of turpentine, as directed for pre- 

 serving beans. The bean and pea bugs belong to the genus 

 Briichus of Linnseus, a family devouring the seed of many 

 leguminous plants, and the eggs of both species are de- 

 posited by the parent beetle in the soft pods, and directly 

 over the seed. The maggots work their way into the seed, 

 where they obtain their perfect form. The pea bug does 

 not usually destroy the germ, but its congener, the spe- 

 cies that infests the bean, is much more destructive, several 

 often inhabiting a single bean, and leaving nothing but the 



