The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-09-05

plants just because they were being
offered, and they might not want
them ct all when they found out
what had to be done with them. We
want to avoid wasting the plants
and we want to insure that they will
all be planted and have good care so
this method will be followed.
We will have 1000 plants packed
in moist earth at the booth, and
each person desiring Q plant will
write their name and address in the
register kept for that purpose. Then
the girl in charge of the book will
hand out a printed slip telling just
how to prepare the soil and care for
the plant to get the best results.
When this slip is shown to the girl
in charge Of the plants she will fur
nish the plant, and the person &C
cepting 1t agrees to plant and care
for it and to fill out a QUESTIONABLE
next fall when we send 1t to his or
her address as given on the. register.
The questionable to be sent out next
fall will ask a few questions like
these:
Did you plant perennial pea In
September, 1921?
How deep did you dig and fertilize
the ground?
Did the plant bloom in 1922?
How high did 1t grow?
What did you give it to climb on?
Are you pleased with 1t?
Did you raise any seed from it?
Have your neighbors asked for any
of the seed?
We will furnish the printed
QUESTIONABLE and the postage to carry
it both ways and will pay the girl
who addresses them to you and will
know little or nothing about who
gets the plants. What we want is to
get them out among the people who
want to try them, and then we want
to know whether they are satisfac-
tory and successful after a years
trial. We have distributed a good
many flower seeds that did not grow
or the plants did not do we'll, and we
want to handle these flowers so they
will win or we will find out why.
Directions for Planting
The perennial pea is not a sweet
pea. The plant grows up like alfalfa
for appearance, but it has clingers
and wants something to climb upon.
Under ordinary conditions it grows
four or five feet high, but with
special care it climbs much higher.
It has tap root like alfalfa, and the
height of the vine probably harmon
ICES with the depth Of the root. The
young plant makes tap root at the
rate of about two inches week for
a while, and the root goes down ten
to twenty-five inches the first sum-
mer according to how rich and mel
low the soil is. If it had rich, loose
soil ten feet deep and four feet
across it would probably fill it in
three or four years and might make
a plant that would grow fifteen or
twenty feet high if supplied with
proper support. The largest one we
have raised was ten feet high and
it was planted in soil that was only
loosened and fertilized about two
feet deep, but the roots went far be-
low that, we do not know how far.
We wish that somebody with suitable
soil would make an experiment and
report to us. II the soil is loose and
deep, dig as deep as you care to and
fill in with rich manure, then turn
plenty of water into it to carry the
fertilizer deep into the ground. Do
this now and after a few weeks of
This seeping, take out the manure
and fill in the hole with rich moist
earth with sprinkling of manure
in it and then set the plant in Sep
TENDER. If you just want decently
good pea plant, dig a hole two or
three fet deep and fill in with mix
ture of rich moist soil mixed with
some well rotted manure. Or if you
have to use fresh manure, keep it
we'll moistened so it will "ripen" be-
tween now and the time you set the
plant, fresh manure in contact with
the young roots burns it chemically.
The pea plants to be given away at
the fair will be done up in paper
with perhaps half teacupful of
moist earth pressed about the roots
and a person can put the package
into a pocket or handbag and yet
keep it in good condition for the rest
Of the day If it is not crushed or
bruised much. 1t should be set out
that night Or the next morning.
Perennial pea plants when once
rooted do not require any attention
but to keep them watered and free
from weeds and sod and will last for
many years, probably twenty or
thirty. The old stalk dies down in
the fall and new one comes up
early in the sprint. tt.
A Discreet forbearanca.
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