NOTES ON GARDEN PEA CULTURE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2319, 12 June 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

NOTES ON GARDEN PEA CULTURE.

An English .gardener writes on Ibis subject:—".Peas will always. pay. handsomely for liberal cultivation, such as deep digging and copious manuring;; and when this is done at tho. first good: pods will be produced in spite of overything.; Good pens pr,;dhow pods will.■■noyeivW: produced in. .poor.joil, and.lhis should; not bo forgottoirivhe'n sowing'is'gpiiig;on. ■ Last year 'wo, !iad; : soi(ip" exceptionally dry. '/weather in July and August,; : aiitl most difticult:\i)|atter.to: keep it-lie .pea's fresh and green* and :tlio/conclusion 'm•cwue'to.:.«a.3.'ffiat midsummer, peas ;hs ''it-' rulontre' s'owit toci iioar, tho siirfuce;. ■ Watering aiid' ■' mulching'' arc 'partial.' remedies for this;. but: wliea tlio; soil beepmes hot arid quite dry' for spveral inches down, it is'difficult .to. save the "roots from its injurious' uitiiiimco if theyiire only two or three inches from ■tho.surface. ■ Tiie trench system of grow-.' i'iig. pea's is one which cannot, by overpraised, but,' : never' seem to forget that pear sown in March. (September) aro -those, which will be liable to "sulier from dr.t.ufitht and kit in June and July (December arid January), and' the' sowing in trenches is often not begun until 'it ia'tpo lato, .1 am in favor of throwing tho'trenches pitt 1 foot in depth,; placing (S inches of good manure at the bottom, 2 inches of soil over this, sow tho seed and ' cover with 2 inches' of soil, The roots. :.will soon find their way into the manure, and when the hot weather comtiß they will ' be 1 foot below the surface; and in earthing up or mulching jt is an easy mutter to fill tho trench level with tho ■.surface of the soil. All peas sown '■aftc'r'tlio'beginuing'of March shpuUl bo treated in this way. Late cropsaro also benefited by it, as, although there may be plenty of moisture when they are in pod in the beginning of autumn it is tho drought of the summer which is apt to check the growth of the plants and reduce their cropping qualities further on. Let it. be understood, howover, that it is only from March (September) thatlreconimend trenches in the general way. We' have had several rows of peas, more particular -the wrinked sort, fail altogether by being sown in trenches in the middle of winter, v.aiicl in wet localities or cold stiff soils eaiiiy sowing in trenches should bo ayoidod.

' Wrinkled pens are assuredly the most tender; it is a mistake to have a pea, like the Wordsley Wonder, biirkl in the iioil for two months at least that are decidedly against its advancement. In the summer of 188.4 I won a prize with Wordsley wonder at South Kousigntou in July, and the seed was not sown until 14th' March. It is a rule, almost without an exception, that during tlio growing season, which extends from the beginning of ■ March (September) onwards, all peas will be ready, tor gathering in sixteen weeks at most alter sowing, and T would guarantee to sow any kind of pea on the 14th March and exhibit it in prime condition on the 14th July. In all my experience of Wordsley Wonder I have never dreamed that it took upwards of'seven months to gain maturity, and 1 am sure this is not its general character,— i\ r ,Z, Parmer.