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ODDS AND ENDS 
FROM EVERYWHERE 
Trying to Work Peas Overtime 
I N THE March, 1913, issue of The Garden 
Magazine, Mr. Adolph Kruhm had a very 
instructive article on the “Best Ten Peas for the 
Home Garden.” This told how to get peas for 
six weeks from one sowing. Unfortunately this 
article did not come under my notice until too late 
and consequently I set out to get succession crops 
of garden peas by making successive sowings. As 
I later found out, that was almost attempting the im- 
possible in this latitude. While we were not with- 
out a liberal supply of peas from June 7th until 
well into July, my attempt was in many respects a 
failure. It is with the hope that other amateurs 
may profit by my mistakes that this letter is 
written. 
My first sowing was of a variety known as First 
of All. This was made on March 23d. We had 
experienced a mild winter and there was no frost 
in the ground when they went in but cold rainy 
days followed the planting in monotonous succes- 
sion and on the 28th and 29th the glass was not far 
above freezing in the morning. In spite of this 
these hardy specimens finally got their heads above 
ground on April 3d. Then followed more rain and 
low temperatures, predominating throughout the 
month, so for a long time the vines were practically 
at a standstill. Not until May arrived did they 
have a fair chance. Then they made up for lost 
time and on June 7th we had our first picking. 
The usual amount of satisfaction was gained from 
beating out all the neighbors, but 73 days is a long 
time from seed sowing to harvest where peas are 
concerned. That the crop did not mature earlier 
was a sad disappointment, although the yield left 
nothing to be desired. It was the best of the season. 
For a smooth, round pea, the flavor of this variety 
is remarkably sweet. The vines are only three feet 
in height and are thus easily cared for in the small 
garden. Under anything approaching favorable 
conditions this variety is a sure and heavy cropper. 
Practically the entire crop matures at once, but 
there were too many even for such pea lovers as we 
are to clean up at one meal, so the crop lasted us 
five days in all, the pickings averaging one half 
peck a day. 
The second sowing of First of All had been made 
on April 26th, and while planted nearly a month 
later than the first, matured within nine days of it. 
It was a case of 51 days from seed sowing to 
harvest against 73 days, the former being much 
nearer schedule time for this particular strain. 
The yield, however, was far under that of the crop 
which matured more slowly in the cooler and more 
moist weather. Since our last picking from the 
first sowing was on June nth, and the first picking 
from the second sowing was on June 16th, there 
was a five day gap, but from the 16th to the 2 2d in- 
clusive, we had plenty of peas. 
My third planting was on May 3d, and this time 
Burpee’s Blue Bantam, a dwarf wrinkled variety of 
rapid growth, was used. On June 24th, two days 
after the last of the second First of All crop was 
gone, we had our first picking of these truly de- 
licious peas (the sweetest I have ever tasted), and 
as we were now getting plenty of other vegetables 
from the garden, these lasted us through July 4th, 
there being five pickings in all. This crop took 
but 52 days to mature, but the yield was lighter 
than that of the preceding crop. I usually plant 
the First of All variety in double rows, six inches 
apart, but the Blue Bantam variety does better in 
a single row, thinly planted. Blue Bantam was 
first introduced by Burpee in 1912. I hold no brief 
for Burpee, and buy my seeds wherever I believe 
I can get the best value, but their catalogue de- 
scribes this strain with absolute truth as follows: 
“The dwarf, vigorous vines average fifteen inches 
in height and carry really enormous crops of large, 
deep bluish-green pods. The handsome, pointed 
pods, generally borne singly, measure four to four 
and a half inches long, and are tightly packed with 
eight to ten extra large, deep bluish-green peas. 
These peas are not only large in size but of most 
luscious flavor. The pods are ready to pick as 
early as American Wonder, while double the size. 
A "booster”, made from boards or old wooden boxes and 
cheesecloth, for protecting newly planted seeds 
in fact, they average fully as large as Gradus.” I 
can back up every word of this. The seed comes 
high but it is well worth the price. 
The fourth planting for succession and the second 
of Blue Bantam was made on May 31st, maturing 
in but 43 days on July 13th. The yield, however, 
was light, and one other picking, delayed until 
July 19th, finished the crop. 
The fifth planting for succession was also made 
on May 31st, Thomas Laxton being used this time 
as I had an idea that it was much later than Blue 
Bantam. It beat it out, however, and matured 
after only 41 days on July nth. This variety is 
much too well known to need description. It gave 
us but three meagre pickings, the last being on July 
19th, and fell behind Blue Bantam in spite of its 
three feet of vine. To my taste it is not one whit 
sweeter than Bantam, either. 
This ended the spring sowings. On August 3d 
a planting of both First of All and Blue Bantam 
was attempted in a vain effort for a fall crop, some- 
thing I have never yet been able to accomplish in 
Pennsylvania, and it was as usual a failure. Both 
varieties got well above ground and looked more 
promising than any late planting I have ever made, 
but a combination of drouth, muggy weather, and 
white lice finished them. Mulching and spraying 
were of no avail. The vines just quit and I did 
not blame them. It is asking too much of any cool 
weather vegetable to expect it to grow during a 
Philadelphia summer, and we are near enough to 
Philadelphia to get the real article. It just “can’t 
be did.” 
In the main I consider my experiment a rather 
successful failure since we got more peas from our 
garden than any of our neighbors got from theirs 
and enjoyed a longer period of yield, but my advice 
to any amateur who may read of this “Comedy 
of Errors” is to turn to Mr. Kruhm’s article. It 
will teach him to how to get more peas for about 
the same period with fewer gaps between crops 
and all from one planting. 
My own experience has convinced me that in 
this latitude all garden peas should be in the ground 
well before the end of April and that the idea of 
successive sowings for either spring or fall crops had 
best be abandoned. To attempt the contrary is 
too much like trying to work peas overtime and 
human beings, as well as peas, balk at that. 
Pennsylvania. H. E. Wilson. 
Just Cheesecloth 
O NE of the greatest helps in the garden is — 
just cheesecloth! The cheapest quality, 
three or four cents a yard if bought by the piece, 
is best. Before planting time, knock the bottoms 
out of wooden boxes — old soap boxes are a good 
size — and tack cheesecloth over them. These 
“boosters” can be set over the early lettuce and 
radishes as soon as the seed is planted, or over the 
first flower seeds planted. Later they will serve 
another purpose in the melon or cucumber patch — 
that of keeping off the striped beetle, a serious 
enemy of the young plant. Keep the boxes in 
place until the vines outgrow them. Later still, 
use the boxes to shade August planted lettuce or 
other seeds. August is a fine time to plant hardy 
perennial seeds, and here again the boxes will be 
found most useful. 
If the seed bed for your early flower seeds is not 
too large, and you are enough of a carpenter, make 
a low frame the size of the bed, and cover it with 
cheesecloth. Set this over the bed as soon as the 
seeds are planted, and water through the cheese- 
cloth. Keep it on the bed until the seedlings are 
well up. 
The first planting of string beans can be made 
earlier if you lay a strip of cheesecloth over each 
row, fastening it down here and there along the 
edge with sharp sticks. When the beans are well 
up the cover will only be needed at night. 
When the grapes begin to ripen, wasps sting and 
spoil them. To tie each bunch in a paper bag 
seemed the only way to prevent the damage — 
until I “discovered” cheesecloth. Now I cover 
the vines where the bunches are thickest with 
cheesecloth, pinning it on, when the grapes begin 
to redden. With scattered bunches, I tie squares of 
cheesecloth over them, tying the comers together 
over the vine. My choicest vines I covered com- 
pletely, joining the cheesecloth together on the 
sewing machine, dropping it over the top and 
pinning under the trellis and down the sides. Even 
if there are a few open places, the wasps do not 
seem to find them if most of the vine is covered. 
New Jersey. M. C. Richardson. 
The Japanese Holly, Ilex Crenata 
I LEX crenata will be found an ideal small-leaved 
evergreen for all purposes; it is most hardy 
in the New York district and as far north as Boston, 
and it will flourish when planted near the sea as 
well as inland. 
The plant is a native of Japan where it is used 
extensively, chiefly in the making of hedges. It 
may be classed as a slow-growing bush of very com- 
pact habit not unlike the box, but better than the 
box as it grows more quickly though perhaps not 
so compactly; when growing it is of a branching 
habit becoming thicker as it ages. The leaves are 
about one inch in length, are ovate in shape, and 
Variety 
Sown 
Plant- 
ing 
Above 
Ground 
ist 
Picking 
2nd 
Picking 
3rd 
Picking 
4th 
Picking 
. 5 th 
Picking 
Yield per 
10ft. of row 
Time to 
Maturity 
First of All . 
First of All . 
Blue Bantam 
Blue Bantam 
Mar. 23 
April 26 
May 3 
May 31 
1st 
2nd 
1st 
2nd 
April 3 
May 5 
May 12 
June 7 
June 16 
June 24 
July 13 
June 8 
June 17 
June 25 
July 19 
June 9 
June 20 
June 28 
June 10 
June 21 
June 29 
June 11 
June 22 
July 4 
s qts. 
3 iS qts- 
2 qts. 
About 
1 qt. 
About 
1 qt. 
73 days 
51 days 
52 days 
43 days 
Thos. Laxton 
May 31 
1st 
July 11 
July is 
July 19 
41 days 
Blue Bantam 
First of All 
Aug. 3 
Aug. 3 
3 rd 
3rd 
j- (Failure 
evident by 
September 
23 ) 
88 
