No. 98.] | 143 
vidual sorts. Thus, while the American Wonder is unexcelled in 
quality and dwarf habit, it was surpassed in earliness by Laxton’s 
Earliest of All; in length of its pods by Laxton’s Marvel ;. in the size of 
its pease by Hair’s Dwarf Green Marrow, and in the proportion of 
double pods by Tom Thumb. The Tom Thumb is a model variety 
for family use, in its great productiveness and the long time that it 
produces pods fit for the table; but it is inferior in quality to the 
wrinkled pease, and is surpassed by many varieties in earliness, the 
length of its pods and the size of its pease. Other similar comparisons 
- might be drawn, but these are sufficient. It will appear, on examina- 
tion, that every stem that bears a single pod has an abortive point that 
is ready to be developed into a second pod when circumstances are 
propitious, and in the axil of almost every leaf is a bud, waiting only 
for strength to grow into a branch. In the dwarf varieties, which are 
in every way preferable to the taller ones, there should certainly be no 
reason why this strength may not be called forth. It will be a bless- 
ing both to the gardener and to the seedsman when the desirable 
qualities in the pea that are now distributed through a score or more 
varieties are combined in a half dozen early, medium and late sorts, 
so that we can afford to strike from the list a large number of varie- 
ties that possess only average merit. 
The varieties of the pea do not self-cross, hence the characters are 
nearly constant. ‘They may, however, be readily crossed artificially. 
This should give the more encouragement to the horticulturist, since, 
when the desired qualities are once secured, there is little danger of 
their being lost through admixture with inferior varieties. 
LENTILS. 
A few seeds of lentils were planted in the garden May 30, which 
vegetated June 8, the plants blooming July 28. The plant bears a 
striking resemblance to that of vetches or tares, though the blossom 
more resembles that of alfalfa. The lentils, like the vetches and 
alfalfa, were attacked in the latter part of June by a blight that 
checked their development until the latter part of August, when a 
new growth took place. On August 31, the lentils were noted as 
being in blossom a second time, the first bloom having been destroyed 
by blight. The seed failed to ripen, with the exception of a few plants 
that were evidently of a distinct variety from the main planting. 
BIENNIALS PRODUCING SEED THE FIRST SEASON. 
Several plants, usually biennial, blossomed and bore seed from the 
spring planting in the Station garden. Whether these sports resulted 
from peculiarities of the season or from poorly-selected specimens for 
seed, or both, we do not know. It is obviously a variation in the 
wrong direction, and in every case such plants were nearly or quite 
worthless for the purposes intended. A few of the ripened seeds have 
been gathered for planting another season, simply to test the effect of 
this kind of selection, but it is scarcely expected that any improve- 
ment will be thus secured. ‘The biennials that ripened seeds were of 
beets, Dewing’s Improved Blood Turnip and Karly Blood Turnip; of 
carrots, Half Long Luc and Long White, also Salsify and Scorzonera. 
A few other varieties bloomed, but too late to ripen seeds. 
