But instead of sowing peas in straight rows, if you will form the ground into circles of three feet diameter, with a space of two feet between each circle, in a row thirty feet long, you will have six circles of peas, each nine feet, in all fifty-four feet of peas, instead of thirty, on the same extent of ground.
If you want more than one row of circles, leave a bed of ten or twelve feet before you begin another.
For the very tall sorts, four feet circles will afford more room for the roots to grow in, and care must be taken, by applying some tender twigs, or strings, to prevent the circles from joining each other.
This method is equally applicable for scarlet-beans.
1106. To raise Peas in Autumn, and to prevent Mice from eating them when sown.—The purple-flowered peas are found to answer best for a late crop in autumn, as they are not so liable to be mildewed as many of the other sorts, and will continue flowering till the frost stops them.
Those peas may be sown in July, August, or so late as the first week in September, if sown in a warm, sheltered situation, and in a soil inclining to sand.
Soak the peas in warm milk, and after you have drawn the drills, water them before you sow the peas; it is best to sow them towards the evening. If the autumn should prove very dry, they will require frequent watering.
When peas are sown before winter, or early in spring, they are very apt to be eaten by mice.
To prevent this, soak the peas for a day or two in train oil before you sow them, which will encourage their vegetation, and render them so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them.