June 27th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
675 
C|e ditrknmg llttitiii. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 27nr, 1885. 
_The Market Pea Ceop.— TVe are now in the 
midst of the season of Market Peas, and, except- 
ing Potatos of course, there is no vegetable crop 
which is so largely grown, and upon the profits 
of which more dependence is placed. It is not 
an unusual thing for one grower to have 100 
acres of land under Peas, to employ almost an 
army of gatherers during the summer, and to 
send hundreds of bushels into market almost 
every day, till the bulk of the crop has been 
gathered. In such case, it is indeed a matter of 
no inconsiderable difficulty for foreign growers 
to enter the lists with home producers ; indeed, 
we may say, that in bulk it is almost impossible 
to do so with any prospect of success. Home 
Peas grown, for instance, within twenty miles of 
London, are gathered during one day, loaded on 
vans in the evening, and are into the central 
market, ready for sale and distribution all over 
the metropolis, b j four o’clock the next morning. 
In such case the Peas are as fresh as they well 
can be, as far as the supply to vast urban 
populations is concerned. 
But in spite of this practical command of the 
home market on the part of our own growers, 
they find no great profit resulting from the Pea 
crop, be it ever so good. Very few persons who 
know anything of the immensity of London and 
of its teeming population—the largest mass of 
consumers of vegetables in the world — have 
much knowledge of the extent of land specially 
employed in the production of vegetables for 
that same market, or of the wonderful in- 
dustry to which, under the pressure thus 
put upon the land, market gardening has 
grown to, and how capable it is to deal with 
London’s enormous demands. Even now that 
the Pea season is in, and all London may be 
supposed to be consuming Peas, the prices 
obtained in the market are low, indeed dis¬ 
appointing, as compared with first crop returns 
of some ten or twelve years since. 
We learn that some very few favoured growers 
started the season at 20s. per bushel, but the 
sample was such that it was but waste to gather 
it. But in a few days the price came down to 
10s., then to 6s., and now it stands at from 3s. to 
4s. per bushel for good samples of white Peas, 
such as Sangster’s No. 1, Day’s Sunrise, or even 
William the First, for these small-podded kinds 
all come in as white Peas. Usually the earliest 
of “ blues ’ is Harrison’s Glory, a dwarf kind 
well suited for field culture, and very hardy. It 
is an abundant cropper, and a good sample will 
perhaps secure Is. a bushel more for the first week, 
then it will find the level of the white Peas, as its 
quality is indifferent. It may be said, Why not 
sow good early marrows to follow whites, rather 
than such an inferior kind as Harrison’s Glory, 
or even Laxton’s Supreme ? The advice is well 
intentioned, but it is not possible to discern ahead 
the nature of the spring weather, hence there 
is great risk in committing too early to the soil 
such expensive and tender kinds as most wrinkled 
marrows are. Harrison’s Glory and Supreme 
are so hardy, being round Peas, that no doubt 
exists as to their capacity to withstand a cold 
spring, should that interpose after seed is sown. 
Growers must have some consideration for the 
price of seed, and of course wrinkled Peas are 
always the dearest—not but that they crop freely, 
and, as far as the production of green pods is 
concerned, are, in good seasons, very profitable— 
but the securing of a clean stock of seed from 
these kinds is so dependent upon the season also 
that prices vary considerably. Of course, and in 
spite of seed prices, large breadths of wrinkled 
kinds, Hundredfolds, Champions, and Veitch’s, 
are grown, because these only are suitable for the 
later crops. Peas form very bulky loads, and 
the cost of getting them to market is con¬ 
siderable. The best samples, as a rule, go in 
round bushel baskets, which will load upon each 
other, so that 100 to 150 are often placed upon one 
waggon. Inferior samples are placed in sacks, 
but peas very soon heat, hence the freshness 
found in newly-gathered samples is soon destroyed 
when sacks are used. Those who grow Peas at 
long distances from markets naturally feel tho 
difficulty incidental to getting their produce 
there fairly fresh and crisp. On the other 
hand, the more remote from London for instance, 
the less the rent of the laud, and also cost of 
labour. 
In the metropolitan districts where, as a rule, 
labourers obtain 3s. per day, and extra for over¬ 
time, women and children, who chiefly gather Peas, 
have 6 d. per bushel, and a woman and a couple of 
capable children can often earn £2 per week, and 
if the sample of Peas be good, even more. The 
price per bushel is usually the same whether the 
sample be bad or good, or the crop heavy or other¬ 
wise. They have to take the rough with the 
smooth. Of course in Pea-producing districts a 
large amount of labour, hard and at times very 
miserable labour, is provided, and the labouring 
classes earn large sums. Too often they spend 
foolishly as they earn laboriously, but that is their 
own fault. It is no secret that very often the 
pickers are at the close of the Pea season rela¬ 
tively richer than their employers, when risks 
and responsibilities are compared, A grower 
finds the middle man or dealer a hard customer, 
as also do the public, for whilst the grower’s 
returns are too often unremunerative, the prices 
charged to the public are atrociously high. A 
remedy for these evils may some day be found 
when grower and consumer are brought into 
immediate contact. 
New Vegetables. —There are few, we suspect, 
who will be found to appreciate the tenor of 
“W. B. G.’s” remarks in our last issue on the 
lack of new vegetables, for, much as it may 
gratify the palates of the overfed to find some 
new delicacy wherewith to tickle their jaded 
appetites, those who eat food, and vegetables 
especially, because food—to satisfy the cravings 
of hunger and not for the gratification of vitiated 
tastes—will, we are certain, agree with us in 
affirming that we have a wealth of vegetables of 
the most delicious kind that cannot be excelled 
for tenderness and flavour in any other country in 
the world. We have had practically on offer to us 
for years a vegetable delicacy, so-called, in the 
form of the green cobs of Maize, which are held 
by some to be even as pleasing, if not more so, 
than Asparagus. We can grow Maize easily here 
for the production of green cobs, and some may 
be raised in every garden. Still the delicacy does 
not take. It may be a matter of taste, or even 
ignorance, still the fact remains that what is held 
to be a very favoured dish in America is utterly 
disregarded here. 
If we were lacking in vegetables of good 
quality it is evident that such an introduction as 
green Corn-cobs would be hailed with delight; 
but having such an abundance of favoured 
sorts with which we are familiar, and have 
learned fully to appreciate, what wonder that 
green Corn-cobs, though so easily grown, fail to 
meet with appreciation. We will not assert that 
English tastes in the matter of vegetables are 
insular or peculiar. The English people are great 
travellers, and in their wanderings all over the 
world come into contact with the vegetable 
cuisine of all nations, yet do we not find any 
anxiety shown by these peripatetic Britons 
to introduce products which shall oust our 
Potatos, Peas, Beans, Brocolis, &e., from popular 
favour; indeed all these things, old as the hills 
in a certain sense, are still of our most favoured 
garden products, and most widely consumed. 
We are, perhaps, the greatest of vegetable 
consumers under the sun, for various reasons. 
We have wealth to purchase, and in addition to 
home enterprise, literally all the world to grow 
for us. The temperature of our climate permits 
ample feeding, and ample feeding always has 
been a characteristic of English character. It is 
true that our present vegetable wealth has been 
developed out of meagre elements, for 100 years 
ago the kitchen garden could show poor results 
as compared with its present aspect. If those 
who persist in denying the progressive march of 
improvement in vegetable production will but 
compare the products of a kitchen garden of a 
century since and now, and will not then acknow¬ 
ledge that progress in improvement has been 
marvellous, then indeed are they beyond the pale 
of argument. 
Pessimists compare our present form with 
those of a few years since, but though progress 
is real, it is slow. Take periods of fifty years 
apart however, for comparison, and then the 
improvement is found to be enormous. Look 
at our marvellous cropping and splendid kinds of 
Potatos, our wondrous wealth of Peas, Broad 
Beans, Eunners and Dwarfs, the singularly varied 
kinds of Cabbages ; indeed the Brassica family 
has given to us almost embarras de richesse, for 
it alone covers with its wondrous profusion of 
Cabbage, Sprouts, Bi’occoli, Cauliflower, and 
Coliard, the whole year. In addition to vege¬ 
tables for cooking, we have also in salads won- 
drous variety—Celeries, Beet, Lettuces, Endive, 
Eadishes, indeed, how many products of this 
class that make up a salad collection is there 
not which merit, and as a rule obtain, wide 
cultivation. Probably the chief difficulty under 
which gardeners labour is not so much in failing 
to find variety in garden products, as in finding 
space in which to cultivate them all, but happily 
good judgment in selection may do much to 
alleviate that difficulty. 
Judges’ Experiences. —Those members of our 
profession whose duty it often is to make the 
awards at flower shows in many parts of the 
kingdom often have odd experiences, though, let 
us hope, as a rule, they find pleasant ones. By 
no means of that nature, however, was the 
experience of a couple of excellent men not so 
long ago at a rural show. It seems that a certain 
gentleman, a member of the Show Committee, 
had duly threatened his gardener that if he was 
not pretty successful at this particular show he 
would be discharged. Literally that was sending 
him to exhibit with all the exuberance of enjoy¬ 
ment a man may feel when he has a rope round 
his neck. Taking advantage of his position, this 
estimable employer and exhibitor accompanied 
the judges in the discharge of their duties, and 
thus overheard all the observations made by 
them upon the merits, of the respective exhibits, 
and whilst praise of his own things received no 
notice from him, all deprecatory remarks were 
duly treasured, and, to the disgust of the judges, 
retailed to the unfortunate gardener, who happily, 
however, was fairly successful. 
