Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/212

 202 PEA the Egyptians ; some regard it as a descendant of the wild field pea (P. arvense) of southern Europe, but De Oandolle is disposed to admit it as distinct, it having been found wild in the Crimea by a single collector ; peas have been found in the Swiss lake dwellings, but they are Pea Flower, entire and dissected, showing the standard, two wings, and the lower petals forming the keel. regarded as some variety, now extinct, related to the field pea. The introduction of the pea into England is supposed to have been by the way of Holland or France in the time of Henry VIII. Probably none of our garden vegetables present so many varieties as the pea, though careful experiments show that many of the named kinds are so like one another as to be undistinguishable ; our seedsmen offer from 20 to 40 varieties, and the lists in the English catalogues are still larger. As peas are gen- erally self -fertilized, the structure of the flower being such that crossing cannot occur without the aid of insects, which seldom take the trou- ble to get at the stamens, the well established varieties come very true to their kind many years in succession ; still there are occasional spontaneous variations by seed, which growers take advantage of, and produce some of their new kinds from them by selection, while other varieties are obtained by careful cross fertili- zation. There are two very distinct classes of peas : the common pea, the best known and by far the largest class, of which the unripe seeds only are eaten, and the eatable-podded, also called sugar, skinless, and string peas, in which the pods have not the tough parchment-like lining present in those of the common kind, but are tender and succulent. In the latter the pods are larger than in the former, and are used in the green state in the same manner as snap or string beans, the young pod being cooked with ^the seed ; there are but few varieties of this class, and they have not attained the place in our gardens which they hold in those of Europe. The common garden peas are of two^ kinds, one with the seeds, whether young or ripe, quite spherical and smooth, and when ripe yellowish white ; the other, known as the wrinkled or marrow pea, have even when ripe a wrinkled surface, and when mature retain more or less of a greenish shade ; they are usually much larger than the round peas, and are flattened at the sides by mutual pres- sure in the pods. These two kinds are still further subdivided into dwarfs, which are from 6 to 18 in. high and need no support, and tall kinds which grow from 2 to 6 ft. high and require brush or other support. All va- rieties of the round pea are traceable to one called Hotspur with various prefixes, known as long ago as 1670, of which numerous sub- varieties or " strains " have been in cultivation ever since ; among the names which this and its progeny have borne are Charlton, early Kent, and early Frame; the present well known Dan O'Eourke is a form of this; it grows from 3| to 4 ft. high, and under one of its many names is more largely cultivated than any other. The most prominent dwarf variety of the round peas is Tom Thumb, which rare- ly exceeds 9 in. in height, but produces abun- dantly for the size of the plant, and its pods are fit to pick nearly all at once. Among the wrinkled peas the most universally popular is the Champion of England, a strong-growing variety, 5 to 6 ft. high, with pods 3 in. long, closely crowded with large peas of the highest excellence. McLean's Little Gem is a dwarf variety of the class of wrinkled peas, not ex- ceeding a foot in height, and excellent in qual- ity. These four are representative varieties in their classes, and the kinds with which all rela- ted varieties are compared. Probably no vege- table differs more in quality than this, owing to variety, degree of maturity, and length of time it has been gathered. The wrinkled varieties are much sweeter and better flavored than the round, but on account of the greater earliness of the round, the first peas of the season are always of those kinds ; an experienced person can tell by feeling of the pods when they are in proper condition to pick for the table; if too young, the nutritive matter in the seeds is very small in proportion to the envelope or hull, while too great maturity is accompanied by firmness and lack of flavor. Hot and dry weather is very unfavorable to the pea, and the crop is never in this country so satisfac- tory as in the moister climate of England. The best soil for peas is a strong clayey loam with abundant vegetable manure; stimulating fer- tilizers are not needed. In gardens it is cus- tomary to sow peas on land that was heavily manured the previous year for some other crop. In market gardens they are sown in rows 5 or 6 ft. apart and the vines allowed to fall down ; to prevent injury they are turned over every few days. In private gardens it is usual to sow two rows, a foot or less apart, and when well up to set brush between the rows for the vines to run upon. The dwarf kinds are sown in rows a foot or more apart, and need no brush. The cultivation of peas as a field crop, so common in Europe, is in- creasing in this country. They are sown broad- cast and ploughed under or drilled in; they are often sown together with oats, the two