176 



FINELY-FLAVOURED PEAS. 



Tlie garden or ciiLinary pea is un- 

 doubtedly the most popular vegetaible 

 grown, and the extent of profit which may 

 or may not attend its cultivation, either in 

 private or market gardens, will depend 

 very much on soil and climatic conditions. 

 Too often, peas are so'wn regardless of the 

 special needs required to make their culti- 

 vation a success, and not infrequently we 



panied by an equally good season, being 

 preferaible to richly-manured soil, which in 

 cold and wet seasons becomes saturated 

 and sour on the surface, even after Jaaving 

 been trencilied in autumn, and requires 

 forking up in the spring as soon as it is 

 possible to tread the ground without knead- 

 ing it. 



Manuring. 



It must not be understood from what has 



PEA HARRISON'S AMEER. 

 An early and productive green marrow variety, growing about 3^ft. high. 



find tliat early v..rieties are sown on cold 

 retentive soils, and main crops or later 

 varieties are sown on land infinitely too 

 rich in orga^nic matter, witli the result that 

 the planter produce an over-abuiida.nce of 

 hatdm at the expense of pod formation. I 

 have often noticed on trial grounds of ma ny 

 nurseries that larger and better filled pods 

 are frequently produced than in many pri- 

 vate gardens, wJiere the seed is often sown 

 on deeply trenched a-nd liberaUy m-anured 

 ground, the plants wlien established being 

 still further nourished by the application 

 of manure mulchings and manurial stimu- 

 lants. Fine flavour in peas depends upon 

 proper cultivation and a suitab'e selection 

 of varieties. 



Soil and Situation. 



Peas succeed on a wide variety of ^ils, 

 but, as with the majority of other vege- 

 taibles, a good rich and fairly retentive 

 loam is preferable. Early crops require 

 planting on lighter soils, which, in the early 

 part of the year, contain an ample supply 

 of moisture r but the latter is not suffi<'ient 

 to cause the plants to suffer- trcini sharp 

 atacks of frost. These liglitei- and shel- 

 tered soils are often found on warm borders 

 with a fcoutJi aspect in kitchen gardens and 

 afford just that amount of warmth 

 favourable to the growtli of root and stem. 

 It is thus seen that no liard-and-fast rules 

 be laid down as to when early varieties 



d en i n g , ai* t i fic i a 1 man u r es 



of pe^is may be sown ; and experience proves 

 that no real advantage is gaine<l by sow^ing 

 the earlier varieties vmder unfavourable 

 conditions. There is no special need to 

 study rotation in sowing peas, except that 

 it is not advisable to .sow t!he crop after 

 any other pod-bearing plants ; and tlie more 

 often the sittiation can be changed the 

 better, as if continually sown on the same 

 ground, the soil becomes pea-s 

 WShere kitchen garden soils are deeply 

 trenidlied, it proves a wise plan to grow peas 

 on soil that has been manured for a pre- 

 vious crop ; a good friable seed-bed, aecom- 



been previously said that no soils require 

 manuring. Soils that a>re natiu'ally hun- 

 gry a^nd not in good 'heart " will un- 

 doubtedly require a liberal dressing of 

 farmyar<l manure, as apart from the manu- 

 rial constituents Mipplied, this manure pro- 

 duces a vakr.ble mechanic al action on such 

 soils. I' n fortunately^ few gardeners can 

 pick anfl choose in the selection of natural 

 manur(\s, hut whenever opportunity affords, 



there is nothing to equal well-rotted dung 

 produced from fattening animals, or, in 

 fact, any stock receiving large quantities 

 of corucentrated foods. For the pea crop 

 to obtain the full benefit of fairmyard 

 manure, either on light or comparatively 

 hea\^' soils, sucJi manuring^ are best ap- 

 plifxl at the time of digging or forking 

 over the ground in spring. In market gar- 

 enter largely 

 into the cultivation of peas, more especially 

 those manures rich in phosphoric acid. 

 Peas, like ^>ther leguminous crops, make 

 use of atmospheric nitrogen, which, in con- 

 junction with the nitric acid obtained from 

 the --oil is o:enernllv sufficient fo?- tlieii* re- 

 qu ii enieiits. The form of phosphorii- acid 



to be applied will depend iaigely on the 

 c!haracter of the soil; aiid^ if not acid, 

 mineral superphosphate cent iiiniii^j; fi-om 30 

 to 35 per cent, of soluble phosphates will 



be preferable to a. similar kiiui of material 

 of a lower grade or quality. Superphos- 



phatOj being an acid manure, is not so well 

 adapted for soils which contain a large 

 amount of Ihumus ; these soils usually be- 

 come stagnant or sour after the winter 

 rains. When in this condition a phosphatic 

 manure such as 'basic slag or basic phos- 

 phate is best, and the liigher the grade of 

 fertiliser the better. As regards the appli- 

 cation of potash, tliis will best be applied 

 in the form of kainit, I'xcept on very heavy 

 soils, as the salt in kainit often tends to 

 make the latter saturated and difficult to 

 work satisfactorily for a considerable period 

 after its application. Iwnie >lH]uld be ap- 

 plied in very small quantities, ewpecia.lly 



on heavy and sour land, as it acts clienii- 

 cally on inert vegetaible matter, and also 

 tends to make the soil lighter and therefore 

 work better. On heavy land ibasic slag, 

 kainit, or bone-meal, may be applied at the 

 rate of from 2 to 4 ounces per square yard, 

 for preference in February. On lighter and 

 less acid soils supeirphosphate may be sub- 

 stituted in like proportion and at the same 

 time. Light soils are always deficient in 

 potash, therefore the amount of kainit mav 

 be slightly increased. There is no more 

 economical method of manuring than that 

 of supplying artificial or chemical manurefl 

 in conjunction with farmyard manure. 



Selection of Varieties. 



As in the case of po'tatoes so with peas 

 — ^too much care oa.nnot be taken in the selec- 



tion of varieties, and it often happenSj as 

 with the former crop, that there is a vast 

 deal of difference between various strains 

 of the same variety. So much, thereforej 

 depends on the manner in which the seed 

 is gro\\*n and selected. It is not a wise 

 policy to invest in cheap samples of peas, 

 and one is impressed with this fact on visit- 

 ing the trial grounds of some of our lead- 

 ing seedsmen in susmmer, and noting tlie 

 care that is taken in selecting and testing 

 the many and varied strains of the same 

 and individual varieties; also at a !at^r 

 stage, when the stocks of seed are received 

 into the warehouse and carefully graded, 

 to ensure that the samples sent out are of 

 a high standard of quality. 



Tnless grown for trial, it is unwise to sow 

 too ma^ny varieties of peas, and it therefore 

 becomes a matter of some difficulty to know 

 what best to cultivate. Those who pride 

 themselves on open-air pea culture are 

 always lanxious to obtain their first gather- 

 ing in May iand their last towa-rds the end 

 of Septemlber or October ; but whether this 

 can be accomplished or not depends very 

 largely on cLimatic conditions. To ^^tam 

 early crops, it is essential to select first 

 early varieties for sowing early in February 

 or March, while the month of March may 

 be reserved for the second epJrlies. Ma^i^ 

 crop varieties are sown in April and May, 

 whi^e for late gatherings sowings can be 

 made throughout the month of June, 

 is nothing unusual, however, to sow some 

 of fthe early varieties in the first week m 

 April, and to make gatherings from tliem 

 in the second week of June ; at any ra^^, 

 given favourable soil conditions and a g<iO(\ 

 aspect, the greater majority of early varie- 

 ties can be gathered in April. J^^'/^- 

 rowings, Pioneer, Litth^ Marvel Hunclreci- 

 fold Eclipse, Sherwood. Sutton^s Keactm, 

 Wonder, and Veitch's Chelsea Gem repl^ 

 sent varieties from 9 to 20 inches ai he^gn ^ 



while Harrison's Ameer, Carter s 

 Morn, Sutton's May Queen, Daisy, 



tallei' 



sior, and Tliomas Laxton a^rt^ among ^ 

 vajrieties, ranging from '2h to . 

 lieight. Second early and mid-season vai - 

 ties of good repute are Sutton's <^^^"/*^';r/v ' 

 Discovery, Sutton^s King Edward VXJ-^ 

 (arter'8 Quite (Wtent, Sharpe s ^i^^*: ' 



Webb\s Senator, and Telegraph; while 

 late supplies, Ne-Plus-Fltra, Contmun. • 



Webb's Masterpiece, Matchless Marrowf ^ 

 Sutton's Perpetual, and G^ladstone 

 among the best, the latter being a spec ■ 

 tfa-TOurite for late exhilbition P^^^^ 



(To be continued.) 



■J ^ 



Grape Culture.-^An ^"'^'^^''f ^^^^.^^fi- 



to tho culturo and management ,\'.^a^ 

 ^rreeiihouM s ;,ti<l in the open i**"^ *f^P*Vi^lr^ffat* 



Oahokxkrs' Magazine Office, Alder^^ 



Sheet, London, price Is. net (by Vosti^- ^ j^^, 

 bound in cloth U. 6d. (by post Is. 

 particulars are also given as to renovatmi, 

 vines, and the best varieties to grow. 



