1884.] 
43 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 
AMEEIOAH PEAS. 
Tli0r6 was a tiniOf and tliat quito rooGiitly, 
when the thought of producing here new and 
valuable varieties of Peas woidd have been 
considered visionary. Yet as every year 
almost destroys some delusions about var¬ 
ious products which it had formerly been 
considered impossible to raise or manufac¬ 
ture on our continent, so has the precon¬ 
ceived idea that good Peas could come from 
Europe only, been indis¬ 
putably disproved by sub¬ 
sequent events. 
Several American va¬ 
rieties, especially those 
originated by that dis¬ 
tinguished horticultm'ist, 
the late Mr. Charles Ar¬ 
nold, and described be¬ 
low, have been found 
not only best adajited 
to our climate, but 
are rapidly superseding 
many of the older lands 
hitherto held in high re¬ 
pute in other countries. 
AMERICAN WONDER. 
With the exception of 
the Early Eose Potato, 
perhaps,. no vegetable 
of Amei'ican origin has 
ever become so widely 
and favorably known 
throughout the civilized 
world, as this Pea. Its 
remarkable dwarf habit, 
its earliness, productiveness, and excellent 
quality have introduced it into every garden 
of any pretension whatever; and as the 
pioneer of a new and distinct class of Amer¬ 
ican Peas, it will always retain a renowned 
and permanent place in the history of horti¬ 
culture. It is ah’eady everywhere so well 
known as not to require description here. It 
was produced by crossing Little Gem with 
Champion of England, and together with the 
two following varieties, raised simultane¬ 
ously from the same parentage, was early 
selected by Mr. Arnold as one of the most 
valuable of the many thousand seedlings 
originated by him. 
bliss’s abundance. 
Season medium early. Plant half dwarf, 
afteento eighteen inches high; foliage large, 
thick, full, and dark green. Pods three to 
three and a half inches long, roundish and 
well filled, containing six to eight largo 
wrinkled Peas of excellent quality. So-wn 
at the same time as American Wonder or 
other very early kinds, it will just come into 
bearing when the first has ceased. This, as 
all the varieties of this strain, has a remark¬ 
able tendency for branching immediately 
above tho main root. Its productiveness is 
simply enormous, and—not to make what 
might otherwise seem an exaggerated state- 
give herewith a photographic 
illustration of a single plant which bore 
seventy-five pods, but as many as one hun¬ 
dred pods have been produced on a single 
plant. 
bliss’s everbearing. 
This comes into bearing shortly before the 
preceding is drying off, and about a month 
after the earliest kinds. It grows eighteen 
inches to two feet in height; foliage very 
large, firm, and bright green; pods three to 
fom- inches long, each pod producing six to 
eight wrinkled Peas of extraordinary size, 
many of them half an inch and over in 
diameter. In general quality, flavor, and 
marrowy richness it is not surpassed by any 
Pea we are acquainted with. 
In this variety the iieculiar branching 
habit is still more developed, and it is not rare 
one of these will, under favorable conditions, 
bear nearly as much as an entire plant of 
some of the older kinds; it is therefore evi¬ 
dent that the yield of the indiiddual plant is 
almost wonderful. But of still greater value 
than its immense productiveness is its re¬ 
markably prolonged and continuous bearing 
season. We have for many years experi- j 
mented with all the leading old and new I 
BLISS'S EVERBEARING PEA. 
varieties, but have never found one that 
could equal it in this respect. For late sum¬ 
mer and autumn use when green Peas are 
generally scarce and in demand, it will 
therefore be a most desirable acquisition. 
These three varieties. Abundance &0.6. Ever- 
bearing especially, being characterized by 
their peculiar habit of growth, require a some¬ 
what special treatment,—without which they 
will not, and can not develop their best 
qualities. No one would, of course, expect 
maximum crops on poor, shallow, and negli¬ 
gently tilled soil, yet even this would not 
prove as detrimental as planting the seed 
too thick. The principal conditions for ob¬ 
taining best results with these Peas may be 
summed up as follows: 
1. The individual plants must have suf¬ 
ficient room for expan¬ 
sion. We had them six 
inches apart in the rows 
last season, and, when 
full grown, found them 
far too much crowded, 
so that this year we in¬ 
tend to experiment with 
some planted a foot 
apart. 
2. Peas planted after 
the groimd has become 
dry and warm mx(st be 
covered deep, four to six 
inches at least. This in¬ 
sures immunity against 
drought and produces 
stocky plants. 
3. The pods must bo 
picked clean at every 
picking. It is ruinous to 
the vigor and productive¬ 
ness of the rfnes to leave 
those pods on that are 
too old for use, or to try 
to raise seed at the same 
time. The oftener and 
the cleaner Peas are picked the greater will 
be the yield. Seed Peas should be raised in 
separate rows for that purpose onlj;;,-. 
EAPID TEANSIT FOE SOUTHEEN PEODUOTS. 
The Market Journal states that the Penn¬ 
sylvania Baih-oad Company has projected, 
and will put in operation next summer, one 
of the most extensive schemes of its kind 
ever known in this country. It is the estab¬ 
lishment of a fast, direct line for tho trans¬ 
portation of vegetables from the South to 
Northern markets. The speed of the trains 
will not be less than twenty-eight miles per 
hour; and vegetables picked on the truck 
farms in the vicinity of Norfolk one after¬ 
noon will be landed in New York and ready 
for sale the next morning. Strawberries 
picked at Savannah, Georgia, one afternoon 
will be exposed for sale in this city the 
second morning thereafter. It is intended 
to put on fast lines between Chenystone and 
the principal Western cities, and, in this 
way, place Southern produce there at least 
three days in advance of the present time of 
delivery. 
BEIIK& TOMATOES. 
It is stated that in Italy the pulp of Toma¬ 
toes is dried by pressing the fruit through 
bags, so as to free it from seeds and skins, 
and then spreading it on boards and expos¬ 
ing it to the sun. Some of our improved 
fruit-drjdng apparatuses could, no doubt, be 
used to good advantage for this purpose; 
and as the dried pulp is as serviceable for 
soups, stews, etc., as the fresh fruit, this 
mode of preserving this excellent vege¬ 
table is well worth the attention of Tomato 
growers. 
to see eight or ten strong branches gi'owing 
to full height, all from one root-stalk. Each 
Copyriglit, 18S3, by B. K. Bliss & Soss. 
BLISS'S ABUNDANCE PEA. 
