Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-04-18
l'ease.

The pea will succeed in any soil in
which ordinary vegetables thrive, but
calcareou, soil suits it best; and
when the soil is deficient in lime it
must be added to it III some form or
other, particularly if it contains much
vegetable matter or humuS, as mostly
all old garden soils do. The ground
should be deeply trenched, and other
wise rendered permeable to the roots,
for the pea is a gross feeder, and the
deeper its roots are encouraged TO go,
the less likely ii is to be attacked by
mildew, for a deep and open soil affords
the most constant supply OF moisture
to the roots. and dryness is the chief
cause of mildew. OF course, deep
trenching is not absolutely necessary,
though advisable; but the ground
should be deeply dug at the least, and
the pea in such Il case should never
follow any other very eXhauSting crop,
if good or even fair returns are eX-
pected. Farmyard manure, rotten
stable litter, old hotbed material, rot
ten leaves, decomposed vegetable re-
fuse from the rubbish heap, and such
like, are all excellent manureS for the
pea, and perhaps safer and preferable
TO artificial manures, which are uncer-
tain III their effects. Good crops have
been produced by guano in some cases
and in others the results have not been
so satisfactory, the tendency of such
stimulantS being to produce rank
growth and little crop. Any Of the
above manu- es may be applied in IA
rank state provided they are dug deep
ly into the ground some months PIE
yious to sowing the crop; and we should
! ALWAYS recommend manure to be dug
in with the single spit in preference to
! trenching it and burying il out OF reach
] for the time being; but very rotten
manure may be dug III along with the
/ crop.
Tease should always be staked be-
! fore they produce tendrils beside, the
stakes afford them considerable shell
! ter and encourage growth. The rows
| should be slightly earthed up Irst, and,
! if ordinary pea-sticks are useG they
| should be as tall as the pease are likely
! to grow. To save expense and trouble
in making the stakes, we always use
the best of the last years sticks for
the early pease their bottoms being de-
cayed, they are chopped Off, and they
are then Just tall enough for the earlies
and second earlies, which are mostly
/ of a dwarfer habit than late pease.
Three. five and seven feet are the
lengths most needed. Where sticks
cannot be had conveniently strong,
sheep nets stretched along each side Of
the row, and supported here and there
by stout stakes, are an excellent sub
stitute. Save keeping the ground
clean and stirred between the rows,
the pea wants little attention after
sticking. In dry seasons a good, thick
mu'ching of rotten manure, litter or
short grass spread along the rows on
each side, and about two feet out from
the sticks, is highly advantageous, not
only improving the quality and album
dance Of the crop, but prolonging it
very considerably. Mulching reduces
the necessity of watering very much
also, but water may be given when
ever there is time to put it on. There
is no danger of OVERRIDING it in this re-
spect, for the pea absorbs an enormous
amount Of moisture from the ground,
which is usually dry in the vicinity of
the row. In gathering pease, the most
forward should be diligently sought
for, as when the pods are allowed to
get Old, growth soon ceases and the
supplies come to an end.-N. !.
! Herald.