The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1925-05-28

place in the sun in the matter of seed
pea production, says Prof. Clyde
Mckee, author of circular 1913 of the
Montana Experiment Station, PRO
ducing Seed Peas in Montana" The
Gallatin Valley and the Bitter Root
Valley are referred to as being among
the more important seed producing
sections of the country, with the ir-
figated valleys in Park, Madison, Car
bon, Flathead and Lewis and Clark
counties increasing In production and
showing considerable promise along
this line.
The production Of high quality seed
peas must necessarily be limited 10 the
higher valleys of the state, says Mr.
Mckee, because the nature of the crop
Is such that it reaches its highest per-
fection under such conditions. For
this reason this particular farm enter
prise will be limited to the western
half Of the state,
In the production Of seed peas, Prof
Mckee advises, that one Of the big
problems is the maintenance of high
quality product The standard Of
quality Is determined by the demands
of pea canneries, for these enterprises
are the greatest users of seed peas.
Because Of the close connection be-
tween the seed pea producers and the
Gamers most peas are grown under
contract, either directly with the can
ners or with seed houses which in turn
are closely connected with the cam
aers. In many cases 1t has been found
that independent growers Of peas have
failed to maintain the desired stan
dard Of quality.
Yields of seed peas in the Gallatin
Valley viii average from 20 to rs
bushels per acre, with the more sue
cessful growers producing from 30 to
85 bushels and certain individuals pro-
ducing as high as so bushels per acre.
Prices under contracts have varied in
the past three years from $2.2b to "a
per bushel in 1923 to from $3.50 to So
In 1925. Peas also have value in in
creasing grain crops which follow, and
pea straw and shattered peas are
important feeds for live stock.
"The pampered, hothouse kind won't
stand the 'gaff', while those harder
individuals that have been exposed to
Monatna's bracing air come through in
excellent condition"--this is the con-
clusion arrived at by C. G. Starring Of
the horticultural department at Mon
tana State College as result of his
experiments with tomato plants. His
/ experiments have been conducted for
a period of years and each year has
added further evidence to support the
conclusion that tomato plants cannot
be expected to do their best when sud
denly transferred from the protected
conditions OF greenhouse Or hotbed
to the more or less rigorous conditions
Of the garden.
| Mr.. Starring found that plants that
were gradually hardened off before
transplanting To the garden yielded, on
an average, almost twice as much ripe
fruit as the plants that were not hard
cned. In one case the plants averaged
2.6 pounds per plant and In the other
Ia pounds per plant.
Apparently, appearance Is a poor
guide to go by when selecting tomato
plants for the garden, for In the ex-
periments 1t was found that the lux
urious, rapidly growing plants IN tne
greenhouse were the ones that did the
poorest in the garden, while those
plants which were well hardened and
looked rather weatherbeaten and
abused gave the best results. The un-
hardened plants lost their foliage
when transplanted to the garden while
the hardened plants retained their
leaves and received but little set. back.
The best means of hardening plants,
Mr.. Starring advises, is to start about
two weeks before transplanting and
expose the plants TO outside conditions
for a little longer period each day.
Hardening may also be done by with
holding water from the plants for
period of about two weeks before
transpIanting, supplying just enough
to keep the plants alive; or by growing
the plants in poor soil or in small pots
or earth bands where they will become
root bound.
When buying plants from CONNER
cial growers the matter of hardening
is well worth looking into, advises Mr..