VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 273 



drills, about an inch apart ; the medium growers an inch 

 and a half ; while for the tall kinds, as Knight's Tall Mar- 

 row, and the Mammoth, two inches are not too much. A 

 quart of seed of these varieties will plant not quite fifty 

 yards of double rows, while a quart of early peas will 

 plant nearly seventy yards twice as thickly. The soil 

 with which they are covered should be chopped fine, if 

 lumpy, and in planting pressed upon the seed. Better 

 delay a little than plant when the ground is wet. After 

 the peas are about two inches high, hoe them well, draw- 

 ing the earth a little toward them, and loosening the soil 

 between the drills, destroying every weed. Repeat this 

 once or twice, before brushing, which should be done 

 when the plants are six or eight inches high, or as soon as 

 the tendrils appear. This may be done by sharpened 

 branches of trees prepared fan-shaped, and of a height 

 proper for the pea to which they are to be applied, or 

 stakes may be driven down every six feet each side of the 

 drills, and lines of twine stretched from one to the other. 

 Pea brush is, however, the best, as the vines lay hold of it 

 more readily. It should be placed firmly in the ground, 

 between 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 are forced by planting under glass in pots, to be 

 transplanted, when the season permits ; but in mild lati- 

 tudes this is needless, as the pea when young will survive 

 a temperature but two degrees above zero if not in a state 

 of rapid growth. If a hard frost occur w r hen the plants 

 are in bloom the crop is lost. 



Seed. — 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 

 12* 



