Wow, the flame wars are still going on. But, it sure makes for an interesting read. Been too busy at work to follow them for a while. I still pose my previous question from a few days ago -- Where is all of this moral outrage when the animal being killed isn't cute, fuzzy, and something that showed up in a Disney movie? Other than one poster, no one seems to care about moles, voles, squash borers, slugs, etc., but they are all 'God's creatures' are they not? Perhaps it's symptomatic of the society we live in -- would the media follow the daily ups and downs of Britney, Paris, Tom-Kat, or BrAngelina if they weren't the 'beautiful people?' I think the animal rights bleeding hearts are only concerned about the cute, fuzzy little critters. Despite the fact that one poster seems to think I'm some kind of psychopathic serial killer because I put out poison bait blocks for the voles, it seems to me that I and the vast majority of the rest of the posters on here recognize the need to control vermin species when they get out of hand. If we don't keep things like mice, voles, rats, etc., under control, we'll all end up living in filth and disease as happened during the Middle Ages. And, in the real world, the only practical way to do this is often to kill them. It doesn't mean it's 'fun,' but sometimes, 'a man's gotta do ....' And, it isn't based on some deep, dark psychological 'need' to harm animals, its based on a simple, pragmatic desire to protect all of our hard work and our financial investment. Trust me, been there, done that, I really did have a blue heron eat $500 worth of koi in an afternoon. No, I didn't kill it or shoot it, I strung fishline all across the pond, which was a pain in the butt, but it worked to deter the herons. Had that not worked, in that case, I would have been screwed, because herons are protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1919, no exceptions that I know of allow them to be killed. I did lose many of hundreds of dollars worth of plants to voles in the past few years. Some of them were figs and other woody plants I was overwintering in a deep trench under mulch. When I dug them out in the spring, I LITERALLY had sawdust, nothing else was left. So, I now put out, carefully, in nooks and crannies where pets and desirable wild animals can't get them, LOTS of poison bait blocks. It's expensive, and frankly I wish I didn't have to, but it's better than the alternative of being overrun with voles. The poison bait keeps them to a low level, but doesn't totally eliminate them. I had a filthy mouse invade my house a few years back. I won't be a hypocrit myself and deny that I didn't get some little sense of satisfaction in hearing the mousetrap go 'snap' when I finally got the mouse that moved into my kitchen cupboards, but I hardly think that makes me a depraved Jeffrey Dahmer type serial killer. There's a big difference between people who are killing 'vermin' species for a legitimate economic or health reason, and between those mentally disturbed or sociopathic individuals who do torture animals, usually domestic animals, for some sick reason. I think the vast majority of us know the difference between a vole or squirrel and the neighbor's cat. And, I don't see how taking a little satisfaction in eliminating a serious pest problem which has been plaguing you makes someone a bad person. Now, when you take it to the level of George W. going after Saddam Hussein on contrived charges, just to show up or show off to his daddy, well, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax, starting a war, killing thousands of people, and sinking this country into a political and economic quagmire. When it rises to that level, then, I think you can legitimately ask questions about someone's psychological makeup and mental stability. But, those of us shooting a squirrel or two to save our fruit trees don't exactly rise to the George W. level. I apologize to any Neocons and Bush supporters out there, dont' want to turn this into a purely political debate,just had to vent a bit and make that analogy. By the way, for the squirrel huggers out there, are you aware of the fact that some communities BAN or LIMIT the feeding of squirrels and other wild animals and birds BECAUSE feeding them is a public health and safety issue? Roseville, Michigan is one such community, and there are others. And, while rare, squirrels CAN transmit rabies, among other diseases. Finally, a couple of other thoughts. Lobster -- yum! And, as someone named Dave pointed out above, I don't know WHY I'm wasting my time arguing this with someone who very well might be some 14 year old idealist who has never lived in the real world. Ah, the joys of the 'net. Allenwrench -- you might really enjoy this forum. Check it out, seems to be right up your alley, based upon all of your recent posts: http://www.idigmygarden.com/forums/ Dennis SE Michigan Dennis SE Michigan Here is a link that might be useful: I Dig My Garden Forums

Mark , I meant to try to answer you sooner, but lost track of your post. 1) I saw the SL16 label on a box the last time I went to Home Depot. I had the box opened and saw they had the correct SL15 ballasts in them. I believe that they may be changing the style of the fixture and just used the old number and upped it by one, not realizing that somebody initially based the product number on the ballast number. Beats me. I always open one box to see if its got the SL15. Sunpark doesnÂt make an SL16. 2) The traditional T12 fluorescents were designed to use 430mA each, and use a magnetic ballast. The newer T8Âs have been designed for 265mA of current. The SL15 ballast is able to drive the old F40T12Âs, but it causes the circuitry to operate different, drawing less current than the older design normally would use. I use F40T12Âs in them, both out-of-the-box and overdriven. An overdriven fixture really lights up the older style 430mA tubes. (Extra design info: T12HO=800mA , T12VHO=1200mA, 34wT12=460mA, 20wT12=380mA, 20w/40w slimline=425mA, and thereÂs more, each different T5 wattage has a different current design.) 3) Probably not. It is nearly always cheaper to buy a good, inexpensive shoplight and remove the ballast Especially that Home Depot one. 3b) I donÂt know. I had downloaded brochures on them from GE months ago. They may be designed differently, as they are supposed to have special features, such as automatic line voltage matching. 4) I donÂt know the fixture you speak of, but reflecting back light that otherwise would escape is always a good thing. 5) Power Factor (not ballast factor) is a ratio of the how efficiently the current and voltage waveforms match due to the circuit design. Without trying to remember how to explain it, I can tell you this  donÂt worry. Poor Power Factor normally does not cost you. It costs the electric company, unless they have special meters on your house to detect it. That is rare. 7) DonÂt try to switch in and out of overdrive. Too late for details, but youÂre asking for trouble if you do it If you are using a single SL15 to light each bulb, then put any switches on the line-side/power-side of the ballasts (black wire). Zink

Snowbird from Burpee's description grows to 18" which is shorter than most dwarf peas (any var. which grows up to 3' is called dwarf to distinguish them from talls like Alderman and Sugar Snap which reach 6' or more), so at this point I'd lean toward your shorter pea plants as being the Snowbirds.

None of the pure americans to date are as resistant as the chinese. The backcross ones look majorly american in type and appearance, but there is some thickness to the leaves and depending on that tree, may be quite resistant. The gene insertion ones appear to be fully resistant, but you are depending on single gene resistance to hold up over time. It may indeed, or it may be overcome by the fungus. My person thought would be to stack resistances, all in one tree. Blight exists in pockets of Nova Scotia, stamped out when noticed, and the Wolfville trees have survived and flourished. They are wholey or mostly chinese. The seedlings from those nuts are open pollinated, meaning, the father (pollen parent) is not known. The american seednuts from Sheffields produce seedlings with some thickness in the leaves, meaning, to me, some introgression of other species......europeans, japanese, chinese. Something else, anyway, with thickness and stiffness to the leaves. I have a seedlot from northern maine too, also with a little thickness in the leaves..........and one with the thin, droopy leaves more typical of the pure americans. There is a lot of variation even in the pure species and DNA test ing is going on now to separate out the confusing appearances.