riterion by which the general management of a garden is judged.

As an article of food Peas are the most nutritious of all vegetables,
rich in phosphates and alkalies, and the plant makes a heavy demand on
the soil, constituting what is termed an exhausting crop. For this
reason, and also because the time that elapses between sowing seed and
gathering the produce is very brief, it is imperative that the land
should be well prepared to enable the roots to ramify freely and rapidly
collect the food required by the plant.

==Treatment of Soil==.--The soil for Peas must be rich, deep, and friable,
and should contain a notable proportion of calcareous matter. Old
gardens need to be refreshed with a dressing of lime occasionally, or of
lime rubbish from destroyed buildings, to compensate for the consumption
of calcareous matters by the various crops. For early Peas, a warm dry
sandy soil is to be preferred; for late sorts, and especially for robust
and productive varieties, a strong loam or a well-tilled clay answers
admirably, and it is wise to select plots that were in the previous year
occupied with Celery and other crops for which the land was freely
manured and much knocked about. Heavy manuring is not needed for the
earliest Peas, unless the soil is very poor, but for the late supplies
it will always pay to trench the ground, and put a thick layer of rotten
manure at the depth of the first spit, in which the roots can find
abundant nutriment about the time when the pods are swelling. In all
cases it is advisable not to enrich in any special manner the top crust
for Peas. When the young plant finds the necessary supplies near at
hand, the roots do not run freely but are actually in danger of being
poisoned; but when the plant is fairly formed, and has entered upon the
fruiting stage, the roots may ramify in rich soil to advantage. Hence
the desirability of growing Peas in ground that was heavily manured and
frequently stirred in the previous year, and of putting a coat of rotten
manure between the two spits in trenching. As regards the last-named
operation, it should be remarked that as Peas require a somewhat fine
tilth, the top spit should be kept on the top where the second spit will
prove lumpy, pasty, or otherwise unkind. In this case bastard trenching
will be sufficient; but when the second spit may be brought up with
safety, it should be done for the sake of a fresh soil and a deep
friable bed. The use of wood ash