HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF PEAS 
French — Pois. German — Erdsen. Dutch — Eriot. Italian — Piselli. 
Spanish — Guisante. 
Description. — A popular vegetable. The green seeds are cooked and eaten; in a few 
varieties the pods are cut into slices and cooked like French Beans. 
Varieties. — Round-seeded, embracing very early and very hardy kinds. Wrinkle-seeded, 
including all the sweetest and best marrowfats. Others bear pods that are edible. 
Season of Sowing.— From November to June; the usual months extending from 
February to May. 
How to Sow. — One pint of a small-seeded variety will sow a row about 200 feet, whilst a 
similar quantity of a large-seeded marrowfat may only do 150 feet, in zigzag rows, each seed 
about an inch apart to allow for failures. In heavy soil it is advisable to sow thickly, as vermin 
are likely to spoil many. The rows should be the same distance apart as the variety is stated 
to grow high. Market growers commence in November with the early hardy kinds, but for 
ordinary gardening purposes the dates given above are recommended. If put in too early, the 
most delicate of the marrowfats are liable to rot in the ground. 
Training.— The present day rage is for dwarf Peas, and even these should have some 
support, as in a wet summer many of the pods will get spoilt. Nothing is better than the 
brush-wood, sold in bundles as “ pea-sticks.” If the plants stand too thickly they should be 
thinned a trifle. 
How to gather the Pods.— A n unpractised hand should cut them off and not pull 
them. 
General Notes. — This fruiting vegetable flourishes in a deeply dug 
rich soil, and the Peas are all the better flavoured if there is a little lime in 
it. It should be firm, and the drill made say 3 to 5 inches deeper than 
ground level. As a rule the seed is sown too near the surface, and the 
haulm is often burnt up before it lias completed its cropping powers. 
It is an advantage to lay a dressing of manure on either side when in 
flower to assist to retain the moisture in the soil ( see Illustration). Never 
water unless it is done thoroughly. A mere sprinkling is worse than 
nothing. 
MULCHING PEAS. 
Enemies. — Mice eat the seeds after sowing, but if a dressing of soot, pepper, and lime is 
scattered up the drill at the time, it will check their depredations. Such an application over the 
young growth after a sprinkling of water is also service- 
able against the attacks of insects and slugs. Birds 
can be kept away by stretching black cotton along the 
lines (see Illustration ), or garden netting may be 
arranged on supports a foot high, and is thoroughly 
effectual. The haulm should be burnt after the crop is gathered. 
LINES OF COTTON PROTECTING PEAS. 
Notice. — For the best Peas for Successional and Exhibition use , see page 5. 
237, *38, & 97. High Hoi. born, 
London. — 1904. 
For cultural directions , see page 6 . 
