52 THE BOOK OF MARKET GARDENING 



account. Perhaps no crop better illustrates the demand 

 for earliness than peas, for within the past fifty years 

 large numbers of varieties have been raised and sent out 

 with special qualifications, amongst which earliness has 

 taken a prominent place. Yet every year some addition 

 to the lists is made which is said to be a few days earlier 

 than the older forms. If the season and weather would 

 have permitted we should have been able to gather 

 peas out-of-doors in January by now. Still the induce- 

 ment is great, for it is within my own experience, as 

 well as of many other growers, that a difference of a 

 week has meant 100 per cent, difference in the price 

 realised. As an old grower quaintly puts it, in one 

 week he can procure " more for pods " than he can in 

 the next week " for peas." 



Extra late varieties which come in after the bulk of 

 supplies is exhausted, also command good prices in some 

 seasons ; but if the main crops are abundant or prolonged 

 they do not give much satisfaction, and generally there 

 is more uncertainty about the demand than in the case 

 of early varieties. This especially applies to vegetables, 

 but in the case of fruits, late varieties, with good keeping 

 qualities, may often be reserved until a first-class market 

 is secured. There is another point in favour of late 

 varieties generally, and that is they are usually of higher 

 quality than the very early ones. 



Productiveness. — The commercial value of a new variety 

 which possesses increased cropping qualities is consider- 

 able. It means the extension of the producing capabilities 

 of land materially when a large acreage is allotted to a 

 particular crop. Therefore it is a property that must be 

 regarded with marked favour by any grower for profit. 

 Increased fertility in pod and fruit-bearing plants is 

 commonly attended by a diminution in size, but that is 

 not a disadvantage within certain limits. A large crop 

 of medium produce will usually yield a better result 



