March  IG,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
to  sow  early  varieties  .on  a  south  border,  and  in  tliis  position,  year 
after  year.  Peas  will  be  grown  with  scarcely  any  change  of  crop  for 
the  soil.  In  a  case  of  this  description  a  dressing  of  lime  has  been 
found  of  great  benefit,  when  the  haulm  has  shown  signs  of  becoming 
yellow  unduly  early,  and  when  the  crops  have  become  ligliter.  This 
latter  may  possibly  have  been  more  the  effect  of  continual  manurial 
dressings  causing  the  soil  to  become  in  a  mea.suro  soured,  rather  than 
from  a  want  of  rotation  in  croiiping.  In  any  case,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  the  desired  result  was  brought  about  by  the  simple  remedy 
of  liming,  and  to  practical  men  that  is  sufficient. 
(Jood  cultivators  are  agreed  that  a  deep  fertile  soil  rich  in  vegetable 
mould,  and  which  has  been  manured  rather  heavily  for  a  previous 
crop,  is  the  ideal  to  be  aimed  at  in  growing  Peas.  I  like  to  .sow  on 
ground  which  has  previously  grown  a  crop  of  Celery.  In  light  soils 
it  is  often  advised  to  sow  midseason  and  late  varieties  in  trenches. 
This  is  all  very  well  if  during  a  protracted  drought  water  can  be  given 
copiously  when  needed,  but  if  water  is  not  plentiful,  it  is  far  better 
to  sow  in  the  ordinary  way  in  drills,  and  afterwards  to  mulch  the 
surface  with  any  suitable  materials  which  can  be  procured. 
Sowing  on  a  warm  border  in  November  is  practised  with  success  by 
some  growers,  though  personally  I  have  never  been  able  to  get  these 
November  sowings  to  produce  Peas  any  earlier  than  those  sown  at  the 
fir,->t  favourable  opportunity  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  sometimes  in 
January,  more  often  in  February.  As  soon  as  the  first  plants  make 
an  appearance  above  the  ground  another  sowing  of  early  varieties  is 
made,  and,  with  the  exception  that  later  varieties  are  used,  this  rule 
is  carried  out  until  about  the  second  week  of  June.  In  July  we 
usually  sow  .some  variety,  sr.ch  as  William  Hurst,  to  give  a  few 
dish  ds  of  late  Peas. 
For  years  the  raisers  of  new  varieties  kept  sending  out  early  Peas 
which  were  ten  days  in  advance  of  any  other  in  cultivation,  and 
according  to  calculations  we  ought  to  have  been  gathering  green  Peas 
out  of  doors  at  Christmas  years  ago.  Put  “  man  walketh  in  a  vain 
shadow,”  or  the  grower  of  early  Peas  does,  it  he  makes  no  allowance 
for  influence  of  climate  and  situation,  and  if  he  thinks  that  by  variety 
alone  comes  salvation  in  the  way  of  a  heavy  and  precocious  crop.  In 
some  establishments  it  is  customary  to  begin  the  season  with  pot 
-culture,  and  the  many  excellent  dwarf  sorts  now  in  commerce  should 
make  this  style  of  Pea  culture  more  profitable  than  it  was  a  few  years 
ago.^ , 
The  system  of  forwarding  the  first  crops  by  means  of  turves, 
boxes,  and  such  contrivances  has  been  recently  adverted  to  in  the 
Journal  of  TIorticultare.  In  numerous  instances  good  results  accrue, 
but  care  is  reipiired  in  the  matter  of  giving  slight  shelter  after  planting 
out  should  the  weather  jirove  rough  and  cold.  I  still  grow  liingleader 
for  my  early  variety  ;  some  selections  are  much  superior  to  others. 
With  me  William  Hurst  is  far  better  than  American  Wonder,  and 
the  latter  has  been  “  scratched,”  Gradus  comes  next,  and  a  really 
good  Pea  this  is.  Some  may  prefer  Giant  Marrowfat,  but  the  former 
gives  me  the  heavier  crop,  and  must  take  precedence.  Duke  of  Albany 
I  cannot  yet  spare  ;  while  Dr.  Maclean  I  always  have,  as  it  is  one  of 
the  most  prolific  Peas,  and  is  of  lino  quality.  It  has  the  fault,  or  some 
people  would  consider  it  such,  of  being  pale  coloured,  but  we  can 
afford  to  overlook  this  on  account  of  its  obvious  merits.  Sen.sation 
has  proved  to  be  of  exquisite  flavour,  but  was  not  fruitful  enough  for 
our  purposes,  and  so  had  to  be  discarded.  G.  F.  Wilson  still  does 
good  service  with  us,  and  another  first-class  variety  is  Autocrat. 
What  a  number  of  really  fine  sorts  of  these  3-feet  Peas  there  are. 
It  is  scarcely  needful  nowadays  to  grow  any  of  the  tall  brigade,  but  I 
must  confess  to  a  liking  for  Ne  Plus  Ultra  and  Champion  of  England. 
For  the  last  year  or  two  I  have  had  Conundrum  as  a  late  sort;  it  is 
too  tall,  but  for  an  end  ot  the  season  Pea  is  of  very  fair  quality. 
Sutton’s  Latest  of  All  has  given  me  many  late  dishes.  I  have  not 
mentioned  Stratagem,  Exonian,  Oracle,  and  others,  as  it  is  difficult  to 
particularise  when  there  are  so  many  that  are  excellent  in  every  way. 
Never  have  rows  of  Peas  too  near  each  other.  It  is  far  better  to 
give  more  room  and  grow  some  other  crop  between  the  rows.  Three 
feet  varieties  should  have  4  or  5  feet,  and  the  taller  sorts  space 
accordingly.  We  then  cm  plant  a  row  or  rows  of  Potatoes,  Cauliflowers, 
Spinach,  and  salads  between.  Staking  is  a  matter  of  some  moment, 
and  must  not  be  neglected.  As  soon  as  the  young  growths  are 
3  inches  high  it  is  wise  to  draw  a  little  earth  to  them  and  stake  at 
once ;  this  gives  protection,  and  the  Peas  take  to  the  sticks  fietter  than 
if  they  are  allowed  to  become  a  foot  or  so  long  ere  anything  is  done. 
We  make  a  practice  of  pmting  short  boughs  to  the  dwarf  serts,  as 
this  keeps  them  off  the  ground,  and  they  crop  much  better  for  the 
Jittle  extra  trouble,  besides  being  so  much  easier  to  get  at  when 
gathering  time  arrives. 
In  some  localities  birds  become  a  pest  if  preventive  measures  are 
not  vigorously  followed  up  As  soon  as  the  plants  push  through 
the  ground  s[)arrow8  and  chaffinches  nip  off  the  ends.  Black  thread 
strung  along  the  rows  we  find  a  good  safeguard.  The  worst  comes  to 
us,  however,  when  the  Peas  are  staked,  as  then  the  sparrow  demolishes 
'the  leaves,  and  if  it  cannot  be  stopped  the  evil  is  most  weakening. 
Soot  applied  when  the  foliage  is  dninp  is  one  of  the  remedies,  also  a 
weak  solution  of  petroleum  spr.ayed  over  the  rows  with  a  syringe 
every  other  day  for  a  time.  When  mice  are  troublesome  trapping 
must  be  persevered  in,  or  some  other  means  should  be  taken  to  keep 
in  check  these  pests,  or  great  loss  may  result,  d’he  seeds  can  be 
slightly  moistened  and  then  shaken  in  some  red  lead  before  sowing. 
Paraffin  sprayed  over  the  surface  of  the  ground  where  the  Peas  were 
sown  has  been  the  means  of  keeping  them  from  their  depredations. 
Enough  has  now  been  saiil  to  show  that  to  insure  success  with 
this  greatly  esteemed  vegetable,  much  attention,  perseverance,  and 
watchfulness  are  necessary. — J.  RnAi.KuRn. 
I  FEAR,  so  numerous  are  Pea  varieties  now,  so  different  do  they 
grow  on  various  soils,  and  so  varied  are  they  held  in  estimation  by 
diverse  growers,  that  it  would  be  probably  impossible  for  anyone  to 
fix  upon  say  a  dozen  of  the  best  varieties.  Moreover,  persons  who 
grow  Peas  know  only  those  they  grow  out  of  the  scores  of  varieties 
in  commerce,  hence  their  judgments  in  relation  to  the  best  varieties 
have  to  be  tempered  by  restricted  experience.  I  have  been  able  to 
test  several  dozens  during  the  past  seven  years,  on  various  soils,  and 
generally  I  have  found  those  that  are  good  in  one  soil  have  been  good  in 
another — and  higher  praise  could  hardly  be  given ;  but  from  out  of  so 
Fru.  54. — Prunus  Pissardi. 
many,  as  newer  varieties  come  into  commerce,  there  must  of  necessity 
be  a  gradual  weeding,  especially  when,  for  various  reasons,  it  is  needlul 
to  compress  the  range  of  selection  for  trial. 
My  chief  trial  this  year  will  be  on  the  Surbiton  group  of  allot¬ 
ments,  where  last  year,  in  spite  of  the  long  drought,  Peas  did  so  well. 
As  1  grow  varieties  only  that  are  suitable  for  the  purposes  of  the 
allotment  holders,  who  scrutinise  the  varieties  very  closely  when  at 
their  best,  none  exceeds  3^  feet  in  height,  and  they  are  this  season 
limited  to  fourteen  only.  These  are  Webbs’  Senator,  a  grand  second 
early  ;  Sharpe’s  Triumph,  Carter’s  Seedling,  Sutton’s  Peerless,  Webbs’ 
