Early Garden Peas

In the spring of 1903 a variety test of over 800 varieties of vegetables was undertaken for and in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture. W. W. Tracy Sr., of the Divis1on of Seed and Plant Introduction, was sent by the department to several states where this co-operative work is carried on, and visited this station it1 the spring of 1903 to complete the preliminary arrangements. The United States Department of Agriculture furnished the seeds and paid for the labor. The land and superintendence ·were furnished by this station. The spring proved favorable for the germination of seeds in general, and although planted late, the plats presented a pleasing appearance until July 15, when the plants were destroyed by a severe hailstorm, a very unusual event in this locality. Of the 153 varieties of garden peas under trial, only the earlier varieties had given an account of themselves by this time, as indicated by the following table. The late varieties had made a strong growth of vine, but further note-taking was useless after the hailstorm. The seed was planted May 26 in drills, each variety occupying 20 feet in a row. The soil was a rich black, somewhat sandy loam, with boulder clay subsoil. The planting, field cultivation and cooking tests were conducted under the writer\u27s direction by Chas. Haralson, Vincent Fulkerson and Albert Johnson. The following tables do not give all the notes that were taken under the direction of the Department of .Agriculture, but only those points deemed of special interest to the general\u27 public at this stage of the investigation