54 
THE AMATEUR'S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
saved. Some may argue that it is extravagant to put five 
rows of worsted to one row of peas ; nob at all so, for by one 
person taking one end and one the other, they may be shifted 
from one crop to another as they advance, and so last a whole 
season. If the bats are dried and painted when the season is 
over, they will last for years. 
On the first indication of mildew, it may be well to supply the 
plant with abundance of water or, better still, liquid manure, 
which may save it, and prevent the spread of the plague. 
To protect the young plant from sparrows, proceed as 
follows : — From the time the plant has made a fair start, until 
the pods begin to swell, the sparrows take no notice of it. 
But now they again assail it, and with wondrous vigour. In a 
district where these impudent marauders abound, the entire 
crop may be taken by them, unless protective measures be 
resorted to. Now there is nothing so effectual as fine twine 
with strips of white paper attached. A few stout stakes 
should be driven in at about twelve to twenty feet apart, and 
the kite tails stretched upon them, just loose enough to swing 
freely to the wind. If put up too soon, the sparrows get used 
to them, therefore do not bring them into use until the crop is 
really in danger, when they will be sufficiently alarming to 
scare the enemy, and the terror will last until the last pea is 
gathered. It is a good plan to keep men constantly at work 
digging, planting, etc., on ground covered with peas where 
sparrows abound, from the time the peas begin to pod. 
Where rats abound they feast upon peas night and day, and 
may be destroyed by shooting them from an ambush. 
Late Peas are more precarious than early peas, as they are 
peculiarly subject to mildew. The sorts that pay best to sow 
in June and July are not the late, but the early and second early 
sorts, such as Kentish Invicta, Wonderful , Advancer, and 
Alpha. Prepare for the sowing well manured trenches twelve 
inches wide and eight inches deep. Put nine inches of manure 
in the bottom of the trench, and cover with six inches of soil, 
and sow. The plant will thus be in a trough, and may be 
liberally watered in dry -weather, both to promote a strong 
growth and prevent mildew. 
Where space is at command, there is no better plan for late 
peas than to place the rows a good distance apart, and plant 
other crops between : from nine to twelve yards is not too far. 
They will then have room for a proper development, and one 
