Peas are a partial season crop, and do not require very rich soil. They are so hardy that the seed may be sown where it is to stand, even before frosty weather is wholly gone. It is best to plant the seed from three to five inches deep, which allows the roots always to be in cool, moist soil. A very rich soil tends to make the crop run to vines and leaves, so that a light soil is necessary, particularly where the crop is to be an early one. Peas should be early or late, because they like cool weather, and are apt to mildew if carried over into hot summer days. The fall crop may be planted early in August even in the Northern States. The plants should be from three to four inches apart in the rows. It takes a pint of seed, of the small varieties, for 100 to 125 feet of row, or one to two bushels to an acre. Where peas are grown in large quantities in a field, for canning, the seeds are sown broadcast and then it requires from two to three bushels to an acre. For early crops the dwarf varieties are preferred as they mature so quickly, and the tall, climbing varieties are planted for late crops. Planting and tillage for both kinds are the same. Peas should be planted in double rows only six or eight inches apart, so that the one row of supports, either brush or chicken-wire, preferably wire, may serve both rows in tall peas, while the dwarf plants support each other. Between each two pairs of rows the space should be wide enough to admit of tillage. Very few farmers understand the value of peas to the soil or as stock feed. This is especially important for farmers of the Northern States, for peas will grow where corn will not, because of the cold; they do not need much soil preparation or after-tillage; they yield a good crop of forage that is excellent for fattening; they take any place in a good system of rotation of field crops, although it is most satisfactory to follow them with wheat; they may be sown at intervals of ten days, from very early in the season to very late, and when the crop has been harvested the ground is in better condition than before it was planted. In Europe they grow peas with delicate pods, called edible-podded or sugar peas, which are eaten as string beans are, but these are almost unknown here. The two kinds of peas used here are the wrinkled-seed pea and the smooth-seed pea. The wrinkled variety is the best, but it is more likely to decay when planted very early. Both sorts of seed are found in dwarf and tall varieties of pea. The most popular of the very early peas are First-of-all, American Wonder, Philadelphia, McLean Little Gem, Daniel O’Rourke, and Blue Peter. Among the late peas the Marrowfat, Champion of England, Stratagem, Telegraph and Telephone are leading favorites.