210 



GARDENING FOB PLEASURE. 



four feet from other rows. Set a line and draw the 

 drills with a hoe three or four inches deep ; the seed 

 should be sown to lay as near as possible an inch or so 

 apart. The Sidney Seed-Sower, mentioned in the chapter 

 on Implements, is a most convenient affair for sowing 

 peas ; one can with a few minutes practice distribute the 

 seed with great regularity. In order to haye a succession 

 of crops of peas, they should be sown every two or three 

 weeks until July. If succession crops are grown, an • 

 average quantity for a family would be twelve quarts ; if 

 only first crops of early and late, from four to six quarts 

 will be sufficient. 



The varieties of peas are almost innumerable, and new 

 sorts — or at least sorts with new names — are sent out 

 every year. They may be classed in two groups, the 

 round and the wrinkled peas. The round varieties are 

 the earliest, but they are as much inferior to the wrinkled 

 or marrow kinds, as field is to sweet corn; these two 

 groups are subdivided according to hight. The earliest 

 pea is Daniel O'Rourke, under some of its dozen or more 

 names, for most of the "early" and "extra early" peas 

 are only selected strains of this, which, under other names, 

 dates back into the last century. It is of medium hight, 

 productive, and valuable as yielding the earliest crops. 

 The earliest of the wrinkled sorts is the Alpha, of medium 

 hight. The standard late sort is the Champion of Eng- 

 land, an old variety, which has not yet been superseded. 

 The dwarf sorts, which grow only about a foot high and 

 need no brush, are very handy in the family garden, as 

 they may be used to occupy odd spaces. The leading 

 dwarfs are Tom Thumb, early but round, and Little Gem, 

 productive and of the best quality. Tha catalogues give 

 the merits of numerous other sorts, early, medium, and 

 late. 



