The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
459 
Successful Garden Pea Culture 
I MPROVED BRITISH VARIETIES. —England is 
the home of the .garden peas, .where they grow to 
perfection. Iler cool and damp climate, with the 
lack of hot sunshine, make conditions ideal for this 
semi-hardy legume. The English gardeners have taken 
full advantage of this fact, and for many years have 
made every effort to improve their methods of cul¬ 
ture. Many careful tests of varieties have been 
made, as well as much time and money spent in 
seeking new and better peas, until today the English 
gardener leads the world in growing this delicious 
vegetable. 
VARYING QUALITIES.—There are two general 
classes of peas, the smooth seeded and the wrinkled. 
I shall not consider the first at all in this article, for 
although it is claimed they are earlier, the quality 
is so poor and the pods so small that one can well 
afford to wait a few days. I like the low-growing 
varieties better than the tall ones that require sup¬ 
port. I don't think the tall ones yield any more than 
the good dwarf varieties, and I know they are much 
more work. 
EARLY SORTS.—The early peas do the best, as 
they are out of the way before the hottest part of 
the Summer. One will make no mistake in getting 
the Sutton’s Excelsior. If is by far the best, either 
for home or market. It is quite low. makes a sturdy 
growth that hangs full of good-sized, well-filled pods, 
and is among the earliest. They are easier to pick 
than those that make more vines, like Thomas Lax- 
ton. Sutton’s Excelsior may be planted as soon as 
the frost is out in the Spring, as they are hardier 
than most of the wrinkled peas. For extra large 
pods the Admiral Dewey is good, but it is not a very 
heavy yielder. If I were to try a new 
kind I think it would be the Potlatch. 
CROP REQUIREMENTS.—Peas re¬ 
quire a sandy loam : I have never seen 
them grow well in a heavy soil, even 
when planted at the same time from 
the same lot of seed. Peas are a 
‘ weedy crop,” and care should he taken 
to get a spot as free from weeds as 
possible. By a “weedy crop” I mean 
one that tangles easily and makes hoe¬ 
ing difficult, but allows the weeds to 
grow up through. Witch-grass is an 
especially bad weed to have in the peas, 
it being impossible to get it out from 
among the plants. 
PREPARING THE SOIL.—The soil 
should be well prepared just before 
planting. Freshly prepared soil is 
especially important during the latter 
part of the planting season to furnish 
plenty of moisture for the sprouting 
seeds. The soil should be quite fertile, 
or should be made so by the addition 
of suitable fertilizers. Fine horse manure harrowed 
in just before planting will give a steady supply of 
nitrogen through the growing season. A little nitrate 
of soda, or other quickly available nitrogen, should 
be added to give the young plants a quick start. If 
the soil is poor, or the manure supply scanty, more 
nitrate of soda may he needed later in the season to 
keep the peas growing rapidly. The stable manure 
will not supply nearly enough phosphoric “acid, as 
this crop requires a large amount to form its seeds. 
More potash is needed, too. and lime, unless the soil 
is naturally rich in this substance. I think hard¬ 
wood ashes are splendid for peas; they supply all 
of these elements. They are slowly available, and 
a heavy application will benefit several crops. I 
believe the most popular method of applying ashes 
seem to do better that way. At least one gets more 
from the same amount of ground, and that is what 
one wishes in a home garden as well as from com¬ 
mercial plantings. 
RICKING.—Gardeners claim that peas will ho 
ready to pick in 21 days after blossoming, but I have 
found that they will not be well filled out until a few 
days later. Peas that are not quite full are very 
expensive, as if takes many more for a meal than if 
they are properly filled out. They should be picked 
just before the pods begin to show whitish, or the 
peas will be too hard. It takes a little practice to 
tell when they are ready to pick. If Sutton's Excel¬ 
sior is picked at the proper time about two-thirds 
of the pods will be had in Hie first picking. The 
second picking is never so satisfactory, as pulling 
the vinos over seems to hurt them. 
Massachusetts. evkkett l. hall. 
C-shift Grafting Toot. Fig. 107 
is to put on a good coating the first year, and follow 
it with a light application every year. They do not 
leach from the soil to any great extent, and one good 
application will improve several crops. 
EARLY PLANTING.'—It is very important to 
plant early, as this gives the crop a chance to mature 
before dry. hot weather. Early [teas arc not often 
The Management of Sand Loam 
1 have been interested in the recent articles about 
potato growing without keeping live stock. My soil is 
saml-loam. rather light and easily worked. Will if be 
really possible to maintain such soil in good condition 
while producing good crops of potatoes? J. M. 
New York. 
I 
Motor Track Carta Toma toe* to Field. Fig. 108. (See Cage 1/66) 
Making the Saw Graft. Fig. 106. ( See Page 1/66) 
troubled by aphids, which sometimes ruin later plant¬ 
ings. I have planted about April 20. and usually 
had peas before July 4. although it has been as late 
as July 10 before they were fit to pick. Once, how- 
e\er. the early ones were about all gone by July 4. 
I would make plantings about every 10 days from 
the earliest possible date until May 20. It is not 
worth while to plant later than that. There are so 
many other vegetables ready for use in the garden 
during midsummer that poor peas would be side 
tracked. It is possible to have peas in the Fall if 
an early variety is planted about August 1. They 
yield less than Spring planted ones, and they do not 
grow quite as large. 
SECOND CROP.—If is possible to get another 
crop besides peas from the same land, as they are 
out of the way quite early. I once planted squash 
between the rows of peas, and cleared the peas off 
as soon as they were harvested. The squash were 
just ready to run at that time, and they soon covered 
the ground. I got nearly a ton of squashes, besides 
a good crop of peas, from a small piece of ground. 
CULTIVATION.—It is needless to say that peas 
should be well cultivated, beginning as soon as the 
rows show. I think it best not to hoe after they 
start blossoming; it will hardly be necessary if good 
care has been taken up to this time. I have always 
cultivated by hand, so I have put the ows very 
nearly 24 in. apart. Then the vines shade he ground 
soon after blossoming time, which 1 believe a great 
help in holding moisture to mature the crop. It. is 
very important to get the rows straight and narrow, 
as scattered seed bothers in caring for the crop. How¬ 
ever. the seeds should be planted very thick, as they 
N a proposition of this kind we have to follow the 
law of natural conditions. If this soil is to be 
kept in potatoes the greatest problem is to provide 
a cover crop of suflicient root growth and succu¬ 
lence to constitute a rotation. That must be the first 
thought of the grower of either early or late crop 
potatoes, lie should keep if in mind when he puts 
on fertilizer, and be generous for the sake of this 
cover crop; a high-grade mixture will 
be needed, applied at the rate of 1.000 
lbs. to the acre and upwards, as far as 
will be consistent with the price he ex¬ 
pects for his crop, the yield, of course, 
being dependent on the amount used. 
There is land, of the clay type, which 
does not seem to show much benefit 
from a liberal application of fertilizer, 
but sand loam is an ideal filler. The 
sand farmer sees where he left off with 
4-N-fi and substituted 1-10 without tak¬ 
ing trouble to mark the spot, which, it 
might be added, will be an eyesore to 
him after a few weeks. 
The seed he plants must be the best 
he can find, or carefully selected from 
the healthy plants of his seed plot, 
which should be planted late enough so 
that the growth of the tubers will not 
be matured when dug. The difference 
between mature and immature seed 
stock is the same difference that exists 
between old and young breeding stock, 
though till lately growers had not waked up to the 
fact, or realized its extreme importance. 
If the potatoes are dug by machinery it will not 
be necessary to plow the ground for the cover crop, 
which should be sown at harvest time. In fact, the 
drill should follow the pickers as closely as possible. 
The vines may be left upon the field and a disk 
drill used which will cut through them, or may be 
gathered into a compost heap and spread as manure. 
Sand, being a well-aerated soil, is not conducive to 
the growth of fungus, but it is taking a chafiee to 
plow under rhe vines unless sure that there is no 
disease present. A compost heap, well heated 
through, will not contain much active fungus. 
Work of the Pear Thrifts. Fig. 100 
