200 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 18 
Ruralisms ; 
SURPRISE AND STATION PEAS. 
ABE THEY ALIKE ? 
At the Rural Grounds, the Station pea 
was tried when first introduced, about 
1893. As we remember, E. S. Goff, 
of the New York Experiment Station, 
was the originator. The claim was 
made by the catalogue makers that it 
was the earliest wrinkled pea ever intro¬ 
duced. We tried it, and found the 
claim correct. When the Surprise (Greg¬ 
ory) was introduced, the same claim was 
made. We think, writing from mem¬ 
ory, that this was in 1896. Last season, 
the Station and Surprise were planted 
side by side, and we compared them 
closely in all respects without being able 
to detect any difference. Picked with¬ 
out selection, Fig. 75 shows the Station, 
and Fig. 76 the Surprise. Both kinds 
were planted April 1, the first picking 
of each being June 7; the vines were 
2% feet high, rather small leaves, slen¬ 
der stems. Pods, 2% to 2% inches long, 
filled with six to seven seeds of medium 
size. The quality was just that of later 
wrinkled peas. 
It will be seen that not all of our 
friends agree with us as to their being 
alike, but it would seem that.the differ¬ 
ence is so slight that there is little, if any, 
choice. 
Thorburn & Co. were the first, we be¬ 
lieve, to catalogue the Station pea. In 
response to our inquiry, the firm replies 
as follows: 
We beg to say that we have not seen the Sta¬ 
tion and Gregory’s Surprise peas growing side 
by side. But our notes and recollection of the 
former agree so much with our observations 
made this year (1898) on the latter, that we con¬ 
cluded the two sorts were identical. Though we 
are not positive of this, we still have very little 
doubt of it. 
The following letter from F. H. Hors- 
ford, the originator of the Surprise, 
gives evidence that no matter how alike 
they may seem, the two varieties are of 
different parentage: 
Mr. Gregory, of Marblehead, Mass., has re¬ 
quested me to write you about the Surprise pea 
as to origin, etc., and as to how it compares with 
Station. He says that you think it identical with 
that variety. So far as origin is concerned, I 
can only tell you what Mr. Gregory says of it in 
his catalogue. I presume this will not change 
your mind any if you have come to the conclu¬ 
sion that it is identical with Stat'on. So far as 
my testing it with the Station, I think I tried it 
here by the side of that kind, two seasons. It 
was quite unlike it, to my thinking. One of the 
marked features of Surprise has been, with me, 
that the green pods had a fuller appearance than 
most wrinkled peas; they are more like some, or 
one (I forget which) of the earliest smooth peas, 
spread or swollen on the sides of the pod. It 
seems to me that it is “ Earliest of All ” if that 
is a smooth pea. I have not grown any peas to 
any amount of late years, and have almost for¬ 
gotten which are which, in calling their names. 
But this peculiar feature of pod in the Surprise 
would have enabled me to select it from the Sta¬ 
tion, if I had been shown a pan of the two 
mixed, and in the green pods. So far as I can 
remember, its pods filled much better than the 
Station, though this might not be in New Jersey. 
Mb. Henry A. Dbeeb, of Philadelphia, 
does not, as he remembers the Surprise, 
think that it and Station are alike : 
Eclipse are the same, and also on my first trial 
of the American Wonder I found no difference 
between it and Premium Gem, and therefore did 
not catalogue it the season following, though on 
my second trial, I could readily see its individual¬ 
ity. Under some conditions of growth, these 
early peas so closely resemble each other that I 
am not surprised that there are honest and 
observing people who believe them to be one and 
the same; but such will, in other years, be satis¬ 
fied by ocular proof that Surprise, Station and 
Eclipse are each distinct varieties with their in¬ 
dividual merits. Last season, the late and much- 
lamented Mr. Rogers, the agricultural editor of 
the New England Farmer, went with me over my 
crop of experimental peas, embracing over 80 
strains and varieties; the crop averaged remark¬ 
ably heavy, we thought fully 300 bushels to the 
acre, and the difference between the Surprise, 
Station and Eclipse, which were growing side by 
side as a test, was most readily noted by each 
of us. 
At the Rural Grounds, Thorburn’s 
Market, the Station, Gregory’s Surprise 
and Nott’s Excelsior were planted April 
20, of 1897. The Early Market vines 
were two feet high, Station vines about 
18 inches, Excelsior about 8 to 10 inches. 
The first picking from the Station and 
Surprise was June 8. The Excelsior was 
four days later. The Early Market bore 
more peas than any of the others, the 
quality being that of the hard, round, 
first-earlies. _ 
THE 1897-PROSPERITY-GRADUS PEA. 
ABE PBOSPEBITY AND GBADUS THE SAME ? 
Yes, they are. In so far as our inform¬ 
ation extends, this variety was first sent 
out by Peter Henderson & Co. during 
1897, designated as “ 1897.” A large prize 
($200) was offered for a permanent name, 
which the name of “Prosperity” won. 
The next year, the “ Gradus ” was ad¬ 
vertised by Burpee, Dreer, Vick, and 
others. The Vicks were the first to as¬ 
sert that the Prosperity and Gradus 
were the same. Which name this variety 
should justly bear, we are not prepared 
to say—Prosperity, we should say. Mr. 
Thomas Laxton, of England, who origi¬ 
nated it, might settle the question. 
Last season, we planted the Gradus 
peas reeeived from Dreer, Vick, and Bur¬ 
pee, beside the Prosperity from Hender 
son. We observed the growth of the 
vines, the size and peculiar yellowish- 
green color of the leaves, the pods and 
the peas. All were the same. The peas 
were planted March 23, and the first 
picking was made July 15. The pods 
averaged nearly four inches long and 
seven-eighths inch wide, with an aver 
age of seven large peas to the pod. 
As the first early round peas are a cou¬ 
ple of days earlier than the Gradus or 
Station or Surprise, we dare say that 
(Continued on next page.) 
“Only the First Step 
is Difficult 
The first step in Spring should be to 
cleanse Nature’s house from Wkiter’s accu¬ 
mulations. Hood’s Sarsaparilla does this 
work easily. It is America’s Greatest 
Spring Medicine. It purifies the blood, 
makes the weak strong—just what you need. 
After a careful examination of the Station peas 
in our grounds last year, and what we can recol¬ 
lect and gather from our records of Gregory’s 
Surprise of the previous year, we should say that 
these are not the same. The Station pea was 
about the first to come into blossom, and is an 
extra-early type. The Gregory’s Surprise is a 
variety growing, probably, 30 inches high or less, 
a very thin haulm, showing close selection, pod 
slightly broader and darker green. The foliage 
is, also, a darker green than the Station. The pod 
is rather broad, and the grains are shouldered 
in the pod, and we think much more prolific than 
the Station. 
And finally, Mr. Gregory tells us his 
opinion : 
When Surprise and Station are each developed 
at their best, the former will be found the earlier 
and the latter with pods somewhat larger, but 
not quite as numerous. Again, under some con¬ 
ditions of growth, they may differ scarcely at all. 
It would not surprise me if some of your corres¬ 
pondents believe the two to be the same, because 
even a seedsman insists that the Surprise aEd 
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