In field operations no sticks are used, and large pickings are taken even from the tall-growing vines while sprawling upon the ground; and the labor is vastly less where no sticks are employed.
The early peas should stand closer in the rows than the later and larger sorts. The Extra Early kinds mature in fifty to fifty-five days from germination; the intermediate kinds in sixty-five to seventy days, and the tall and late kinds in seventy-five to eighty days. For autumn planting, the extra early varieties are used, and are planted until sixty days before frost.
Plant of New Giant Podded Marrow Pea.
Mildew is a field enemy of the pea, resulting from unfavorable weather. The weevil often attacks the seed, but does not injure it for market purposes.
The canning of green peas is now an industry of enormous extent in America. The peas are shelled and sorted by machinery, and thousands of bushels are annually disposed of in this manner.
The wholesale market price of peas in the pod varies from 50 cents to $3 per bushel at Philadelphia. The latter price is for the early product. The usual retail price is 15 to 25 cents per half peck. The crop of green pods per acre may be rated at 100 bushels, more or less.
Peas.—Earliest for the South—Johnson & Stokes' New Record Extra Early, Alaska; second early—Johnson & Stokes' Second Early Market Garden; late—Giant Podded Marrow, Improved Stratagem, Crown Prince, Sugar Marrow. For descriptions, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual."