The Garden Magazine, June, 1921 
267 
for the double purpose of full development for the fall crop and of a start 
for the following spring; cut back to nearly half early the next year. 
Clean cultivation, and a small amount of nitrate of soda worked 
into the ground in early spring will give good results. — Edwin Cros- 
wait, Maryland. 
“Let Us Have Peas” 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
S URELY peas are pleasing to any well-regulated family, and much 
to be desired for many weeks! The stock writers and the cat- 
alogue enthusiasts have just been telling us how we may have peas 
in plenty and for plenty of time. Peas for a month? Sure; that’s 
easy; indeed, peas for six weeks are always promised, and one san- 
guine seedsman who ought to know has been writing me of his original 
scheme and selection which will provide the delectable vegetable until 
“ late in August ! ” As he wrote to me individually, and he knows where 
I live, he must mean, therefore, that at Breeze Hill I may have peas for 
nearly two full months. 
Now this is all very nice — on paper; but it never has worked out in 
peas. 1 have succession-planted the same variety according to pre- 
scription, only to find that the extra-early plantings were sure to be late 
and the extra-late plantings were sure to be early, with the result that 
we had a plethora of peas for two or three weeks, and then none at all. 
Then I believed a Garden Magazine writer who proposed the plant- 
ing all at once of six sorts, which were so pleasantly disposed that they 
would perform to the pea schedule and give me full six weeks of good 
eating. The result was just the same as the succession-planting result 
— a piling up of peas that “peeved” the housefolks and proved — to me, 
at least — that "somebody lied,” or guessed, which latter is more likely. 
One day I visited with a very careful seedsman, and I assailed him on 
this subject. He insisted, hesitated, cogitated, and then capitulated; 
the best he would promise was a month of pea succulence, and he 
wasn’t too sure at that! 
1 have planted extra early — this year on March 14th — knowing that 
the cool ground would hold back pea pushing so that two weeks of time 
difference in planting would probably round out into not more than 
three days of pea maturity for the table. The plain truth is, 1 think, 
that as the ground warms, the Peas hurry, and that when the ground is 
thoroughly warmed, as in late June and through July, the Peas are un- 
happy and unprosperous; they just don’t perform. 
But 1 speak a plea for more conservative statements on the part of 
the vegetable writers. A little less theorizing, a little more fact telling, 
would be welcome. When one of these six-weeks or seven-weeks pea 
artists presents a schedule of experience, with dates and varieties re- 
lating to the same garden in the same year, I will be compelled to be- 
lieve he is no longer one of the slick gentlemen who do wonders at the 
county fairs with “three peas under a shell.” 
Let us have Peas, by all means, but honestly, as to dates! — J. 
Horace McFarland, Harrisburg, Pa. 
And We Will Have Peas; 
Tothe Editor of The Garden Magazine; 
T HE facts called for by Mr. McFarland were presented to The 
Garden Magazine readers on pages 162-163 °f April 1916 issue. 
These facts were the result of a fairly comprehensive experiment con- 
ducted on clay soil in northern New York State. Thirty-six distinct 
varieties and many strains, a total of more than seventy-five actual 
trials were the basis for these conclusions. And yet, because nature 
makes it impossible for horticulture to become an exact science, the 
conclusions of five years ago are but stepping stones for the future. 
For this reason, only such parts of the table are repeated as are of 
immediate interest to the reader. Here is what happened between 
April 1 6th and July 23rd, during the summer of 1913, along the banks 
of the Chenango River, twenty-five miles north of Binghampton : 
VARIETY NAME 
DATE 
SOWN 
FINAL 
PICKING 
FIRST READY 
AFTER 
Prolific Extra Early 
4-17 
6-25 
64 days 
Thomas Laxton 
4-' 7 
7-7 
72 “ 
Potlach 
4-16 
7-20 
83 “ 
Little Marvel 
4-25 
7-IO 
69 “ 
Alderman 
4-25 
7-23 
80 “ 
Royal Salute 
4-25 
7-28 
88 “ 
This selection and original planting provided peas from June 20th, 
when Prolific Extra Early gave the first picking, until July 28th, when 
the last few quarts of Royal Salute were gathered. The last week in 
April and first ten days of May proved so dismal, wet and cold that I 
became afraid much rotting of seed might cause damage to germination, 
especially among the wrinkled sorts. As a precautionary measure, the 
entire trial of nearly thirty distinct kinds was sown over again on May 
1 5th, with the result that we gathered peas until the middle of August. 
A few of Mr. McFarland’s observations are correct, but are not 
carried far enough. Thus, while it is true that an early hot spell in 
June will forceall kinds to more rapid maturity, it isequally true that an 
exceedingly moist and cool season will prolong the bearing period of all 
kinds, especially the large, late, wrinkled sorts. The banks of the 
Susquehanna do not offer congenial conditions for pea trials at any 
time, but by a careful selection of varieties, special attention to culture, 
and thoughtful study of its whims, this possibly exacting vegetable 
will be found reasonably reliable, especially in its pedigreed branches. 
Prolific Extra Early is now largely superseded by Market Surprise 
which excels it in quality, in size and number of peas to the pod, and 
in from a week to ten days earlier maturity. Royal Salute likewise 
has been put in the discard for, fine as this variety is in England whence 
many of our best sorts originally came, it absolutely refuses to “per- 
form” over here. The pods are wonderful, they are borne on time, 
but they will not fill out well. — Adolph Kruhm, Long Island. 
Tree Wisteria in a City Yard 
Tothe Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
I T MAY interest some of the readers of The Open Column to know 
that Wisteria trees can be grown successfully from slips in this part of 
the country. 1 started the one shown in the photograph twelve years 
ago. The slip was first given a start in a jar of water. When the 
JOY FOR THE CITY DWELLER 
Twelve years ago a mere slip in a jar of water, this lovely Wisteria, pruned to 
grow sturdily in tree shape, now throws out more than a thousand blossoms 
each season. Mrs. Skiff’s success offers much encouragement to city gardeners 
sprouts were large enough I planted it in the ground. For a year I did 
nothing to the slip. When it had reached the height of one foot and a 
half I started pruning the suckers that came after the blossoms dropped. 
By doing this each year 1 have at last succeeded in bringing forth, I 
think, a beautiful tree. The tree was planted in the front of the house 
which faces the northeast. It is now six feet in height and has a spread 
of about seven feet. There were about a thousand to fifteen hundred 
blossoms or clusters last year. — Mrs. Cornelius B. Skiff, Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 
Illustrating “The Budding Story” A Correction 
To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 
A SLIGHT inaccuracy crept into sketch No. 5 illustrating "The 
Budding Story Step by Step” in the March Garden Magazine. 
In the original drawing the string was indicated by a single heavy line 
and in the redrawing the artist made a double line. The turn of string 
that goes diagonally downward across the thumb nail was meant 
to be outside of the other, and a quick upward pull in the direction 
indicated by the arrow secures the upper end in a half knot. — John L. 
Doan, Ambler, Pa. 
