1168 The Ministry's Scheme of Elver Distribution. [Mar., 



another illustration of the truth that the use of home-saved 

 seed is so frequently bad economy. It was noticeable in last 

 season's crop, that a large percentage came out " round," 

 neither green field peas such as the flat-sided semi-wrinkled 

 " Harrison's Glory " nor indented Marrowfats, and that this 

 was at its worst when the crop was from home-saved seed. 



Two things must be done if the position is to be restored. 

 Firstly, in the purchase of seed it will prove to be money well 

 invested to sow the best quality procurable; secondly, the 

 absolute necessity for field-rogueing must be realised, for if this 

 is neglected, no degree of care and skill will avail to obtain the 

 desired standard of improvement. 



To facilitate proper cultivation and rogueing, peas should be 

 grown in rows not less than 12 inches apart. In this way no 

 permanent injury will be done to the crop in rogueing, and the 

 value of the harvest will be greatly enhanced. 



Purple-flowered hybrids can be eliminated easily by 

 " rogueing " — so far at least as our present knowledge goes — 

 and since the axils of these are so coloured that they catch the 

 eye, the crop can be " rogued " for the first time as soon as 

 the plants are about eight leaves high, and any that escape 

 at this time can be " rogued " again on the blossom. If the 

 farmer will take the trouble to have these precautions carried 

 out, and where growing on contract gives free access to the 

 expert " roguer," there seems no reason why English peas 

 should not recapture their former position of pre-eminence 

 within the course of the next two years. 



Unfortunately many stocks contain numbers of white- 

 flowering types differing in pod-shape, length of haulm, shape, 

 size, colour of seed, &c; in such cases field-rogueing becomes 

 a matter of extreme difficulty. The only real* remedy for 

 establishing re-selected true stocks, is for the growers to pick 

 out a few perfectly typical plants of the desired varieties, or 

 better still, to raise and- work up a stock from a single perfect 

 plant. 



The importance of re-stocking eel ponds and rivers annually 

 is probably insufficiently realised by the owners of such waters. 



The Ministr 's ma,v not ^ e S' enera ^ known that the 



„ . „ common or " freshwater " eel does not 



Scheme of Elver , , . ^ , . u . , 



_ v breed m the rivers and streams m which 



S , m.- the greater part of its development takes 



Distribution. . 8 „ , \ ■ , , 



place. Lnhke the salmon, which returns 



from the ocean in the spring to breed in the river, the eel, when 



