The first planting should be made in the spring, as soon as the ground
can be prepared. It is my practice to sow three varieties at the first
planting, and two varieties at each subsequent one, kinds being sown
which will mature in succession, one being ready to pick about the time
the preceding one is past. The same result may be obtained by making
plantings of the same sort a week apart. I think my way the easier,
and besides, relish the variety. A drill of fifty feet would probably
be sufficient for an ordinary family to have in bearing, but as my own
family is large and very fond of this vegetable, and insist upon having
them upon the table every day in the season when it is possible to grow
them, I find a full row across the garden none too many to have in
bearing at one time.
For several years past I have given up raising the tall growing peas
requiring brush or sticks for their support, as it is not easy to
procure sufficient brush for a garden of this size, unless you have a
convenient woods upon which to draw, and even then it takes a great
deal of labor to get the brush and stick the peas; while it takes
more than twice as long to clear the ground for the succeeding crop,
and the rows must be planted at a greater distance apart, to admit of
cultivation.
The quality of the dwarf kinds is fully as good as of the tall growing
ones, and in many kinds the crop borne is fully as prolific; the only
strong point that I know of in favor of the brushed peas, is that the
pickers do not growl half so much at picking them as they do over the
lower growing ones, and that some of the varieties can be had later
in the summer, as their height serves to shade the ground between the
rows and thus keeps it cool. As for the growls of the picker, the short
vines admit of no loafing place, and no true gardener or lover of
his craft ever seems to be aware that he has such a thing as a spine
(except on his cucumbers) till he tries to straighten up at the end of
the day’s work.
For sowing the seed, plow a drill as deeply as possible with the hand
plow; sow the seed thickly, say a quart to 200 feet of drill, and cover
by plowing the dirt back again; when the hand-plow is not among the
assortment of tools, scrape a drill three inches deep and as broad as
the blade of the hoe, scatter the seed the whole breadth of the drill,
using about one-third more seed than above directed, and then press
them into the bottom of the drill with the sole of the boot, covering
the fine dirt in afterward with a steel rake; this takes longer to do,
but is a much better way to plant them when the time can be spared; the
row being broader it gives the plants more room, and the seed being
planted more deeply will better withstand the hot weather. For the
very earliest planting the seed should only be covered about an inch
deep, and more soil can be drawn around them when well started. The
successive plantings of peas should be kept up until the middle of
June; those planted later than this will mildew, and not fill out the
pods, unless in a cool and shady situation. The plantings should be
resumed about the first week in August, and three successive plantings,
about ten days apart, should be made. The vines and pods of these peas
will most likely mildew, but the peas that you will get in the cool
days of the fall will be the finest in quality, of the whole season. In
selecting the sorts to plant, the wrinkled varieties will be found of
better quality than the smooth kinds, the latter requiring to be picked
while quite young, as they become hard, while the wrinkled ones remain
longer in good condition.