310 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 27. 
at any other part. Each pod contains from six to eight 
very large peas, which are of an ovate shape, half-an- 
flack’s imperial. bedman’s imperial. 
inch long, seven-twentieths broad, and the same in 
thickness. The ripe seed is blue. 
The seed was sown on the 5tli of April, and the 
plants bloomed on the 20th of June. On the 26th the 
blooms dropped, and the slats appeared, and on the 12th 
of July the pods were quite filled and ready to he 
gathered. 
All the Imperials are very prone to degenerate, having 
a tendency to run back to the old Blue Prussian , from 
which they first originated; great care is, therefore, 
necessary on the part of the growers, to keep the stock 
pure. 
Flacks Imperial is one of the most prolific Peas in 
cultivation. It grows to a convenient height, and 
whether considered for private gardens, or for market 
supplies, it is one of the most valuable varieties which 
has been introduced of late years. 
Bedman’s Imperial. 
This, for many years, was the Imperial, par excellence, 
hut now it is far surpassed by the preceding variety; 
indeed, it is not worth growing. 
The plant generally produces a single stem, which is 
from three to four feet high. The pods are generally in 
pairs, hut sometimes single ; three-inches-and a-quarter 
long, five eighths-of-an-inch broad, somewhat curved, and 
terminating abruptly at the points. Each pod contains 
from six to seven peas, which are of an ovate shape, 
and about the third-of-an-inch in their greatest diameter. 
The ripe seed is pale blue. 
From the figures given above, it will be seen how 
much superior Flack’s is to Bedman’s, and it has also 
the advantage of being two or three days earlier in 
podding. 
Groom’s Superb. 
Synonymes. —Blue Spanish Dwarf, Blue Fan. 
This variety was raised by Mr. H. Groom, of Wal¬ 
worth, and introduced about eighteen or twenty years 
ago. It is a useful variety for small gardens, being 
dwarf, and a moderate bearer, but it is now very much 
surpassed by Bishop’s Long Podded, and Burbidge's 
Eclipse, both of which are considered more prolific, and 
better-flavoured peas. 
The plant grows from a foot-and a-half to three feet 
high. The pods are single, and in pairs, in about 
equal proportions, two-inches-and-a half long, containing 
from six to seven peas in each. The ripe seed is 
pale blue. 
The seed was sown on the 5th of April, and the 
plants bloomed on the 22nd of June. On the 14lh of 
July the pods were ready to gather. R. H. 
{To be continued.) 
Having considered the admirable effects of pure running 
water when applied according to proper principles in 
irrigating poor upland meadows near the very sources of 
springs, we proceed to notice the case where an ex¬ 
tremely weak and infinitesimal dose of manure is used, 
to provoke just a slight amount of fermentation and of 
action in water which has lost its freshness, riauts, as 
well as animals, loathe stagnant water, and are thankful 
for anything which promises to replace the loss of the 
most important quality which water can possess. The 
actual value as manures of the matters held in solution, 
or iu suspension, in this instance is altogether insignifi 
cant; their efficacy depending not on the strength, but 
on the extremely diluted state of the mixture. How 
different is the action of the contents of the farm-yard 
tank and the urine barrel, charged with the richest 
liquid drainage of our stables, privies, and shippons. 
In order to save cost and labour in collecting, storing, 
and carrying out to the field, every pains is taken to 
have the mixture in a highly concentrated state, by ex¬ 
cluding all surface-water from the tank. Some high 
farmers mix their liquid-manure with guano, or boue 
dust. They rarely apply it to the growing crop, except 
in very wet weather; but rather to the bare ground, or 
in the intervals between'the ridges and drills, or by way 
of compost mixed with charred weeds or clay. The 
strong solution of fertilizing salts is readily taken up by 
the hungry soil, which at once deodorizes, fixes, absorbs* 
and divides it; presenting it, in the end, as a most 
acceptable food for the roots of plants—in virtue of a 
principle repeatedly advocated in this journal, a prin¬ 
ciple plainly Providential, which we have shown to have 
