330 



LEGUMINOS^. CLXXI. Pisum. 



The climate required by the pea is dry and not very warm, for portion of this pulse as of other grain, though in light lands 

 which reason as the seasons in this country are very often moist, 



is one of the most uncertain of field crops. 



which are in tolerable heart the profit in a good year is far from 



inconsiderable. 



, In gathering green peas for the marJcety it is frequendy a 



practice with the large cultivators of early greew pea crops in 



the intention of the cultivator. When they are grown for pod- the neighbourhood of London, to dispose of them by the acre to 

 ding early for sale green, they should be sown at different times inferior persons, who procure the podders ; but the smaller far 



March 



mers, for the most part, provide this description of persons them- 

 selves. It is sometimes the custom to pick the crops over 



and most reduced soils, and with this intention they are sown in 



the autumn in some southern counties. For the general crops, twice, after which the rest are suffered to stand till they become 



from February to April, as soon as the lands can be brought into ripe, for the purpose of seed ; but being the worst part of the 



_„..-_ . , , , , , ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ improper for seed. This sort of crop affords the 



, , ^ ^ ^, naost profit in those pea seasons which are inclined to be cool, ais 



m order to get the crop off in time for a crop of turnips to fol- under sucTi circumstances the peas are most retarded in their 



low, being a profitable kind of husbandry which should never be " ' " " . . _ 



prope 



mgs, and the white in the later, ft is always best to sow"^ early, 



neglected. 



of 



circumstances, and according to the time and manner in which 

 the crop is sown ; but in general it may be from 2|- to 3 bushels, 

 the early sowings having the largest proportion of seed. 



The most common mode of sorving field peas is broad-cast, but 

 the advantages of the row culture in the case of a crop so early 

 committed to the soil must be obvious. The best farmers, 

 therefore, always sow^ca* in drills, either after the plough, the 



ripening, and of course the markets kept from being over abun- 

 dantly supplied^ but in some warm dry seasons when their ri- 

 pening is hastened they scarcely repay the expences. 



The threshing of peas requires less labour than that of any 

 other crop. Where the haulm is wished to be preserved entire 

 it is best done by hand, as the threshing machine is apt to re- 

 duce it to chaff. But where the fodder of peas is to be given 

 immediately to horses on the spot, the breaking it is of no disad- 



vantage. 



'/ 



seed being deposited in every second or third furrow, or if the to be from 3\ to 4 quarters an acre ; others, however, as Donald- 



land IS in a pulverized state, by drawing drills with a machine, son, imagine the average of any two following crops not to be 



or by ribbing. In Norfolk and Suflfolk peas are generally dib- more than about 1 2 bushels, and therefore may be considered as a 



bled on the back ot the furrow, sometimes one, and sometimes less profitable crop than most others. But as a means" of ame- 



^rous on each, but this method has no particular advantage. In liorating, and improving the soil at the same time, it is esteemed 



Kent, where immense quantitiesofpea^aregrown, both for gather- as of great value "' " " " 



ing green, and for selling ripe to the seedsman, they are generally 

 sown in rows, from 18 inches to 3 feet asunder according to the 

 kind, and well cultivated between ; 4 to C inches is a i)roper depth 

 iorpeas to be sown, but they will vegetate if sown at 1 foot in depth. 

 The after culture given to field peas is that of hoeing, either 

 by tlie hand-hoe or the horse-hoe. Where the hand culture pre- 

 vails, it is the general custom to give two hoeings ; the first 



With respect to the produce oi green peas in 



the husk, the average of the early crops in Middlesex is supposed 

 to be from about 25 to SO sacks the acre, which selling at from 

 8 to 10 shillings per sack, affords 18/. the acre. The author of 

 the " Synopsis of Husbandry;" however, states the produce 

 about Dartford in Kent at about 40 sacks per acre, though he 

 says^50 sacks have been gathered from that space of land.^ 



When the plants are about 2 or 3 mchesin height, and again just much on the sort and the season, in general it is more bulky than 

 before the period of their flowering. At the last of these opera- - - - - & . . 



tions, the rows should be laid down, and the earth well placed 



that of grasses, but may be compressed into 1 



room 



. .1 IV • • 1 ' , - - _ - ^ ^,^^^^^ of peas influui la a.^ xj \,yj ^ ^* .,..- o . 



up to them. In Kent It is the custom, where this sort of crop is and husked and split for soups as 4 to 2. A thousand parts of 



much grown, when the distance of the rows is sufficiently great 

 to prevent the vegetation of weeds, to forward the growth of 



pea-flour afforded Sir H. Davy 574 parts of nutritive matter, 

 viz. 501 of mucilage, 22 of sugar, 25 of gluten, and iGofex- 



trJl crops by occasional horse-hoeing and the use of the tract or matter rendered insoluble during the operation. 

 brake-harrow, the mould being laid up to the rootsof the plants at ^' - - of.,. 



the last operation, by fixing a piece of wood to the harrow. This 

 should, however, only be laid up on one side, xhepcas being always 

 placed up to that which is the mostfully exposed to the sun. 



In harvesting the pea considerable care is requisite, both on 

 account of the seed arid haulm. When jica crops become ripe 



poses is well known. In some^places porridge, brose, and bread 

 are rnade of pea-flour, and reckoned very wholesome and sub- 

 stantial. In Stirlingshire it is customary to give pease or bean 

 biscuits to horses while in the yoke as a refreshment. The por- 



account ot the seed and haulm When ^.ca crops become ripe tlon of peas that is not consumed as human food is mostly ap- 

 they wither and turn brown in the haulm, and the pods begin to propriated to the purposes of fattenin<r ho^s and other sorts of 



open. In this state they should be cut as soon as possible, in 

 order to prevent loss^ from shedding. In early crops the haulm 



. * J. -jT- o &" and -- 



domestic animals, and in particular instances they are given to 

 laboring horses in place of beans, but care should be taken 



is generally laid up mto loose open heaps, which when dry are when used in this way that they be sufficiently dry, as they are 

 removed and stacked. In the eeneral crons thev are ffenerallv nfbprw;«r. «r.f f^ ^«^«.:„« x.^,Li i ■_._•:- A.^.^ fininials. 



removed and stacked. In the general crops they are generally 

 put into small heaps, called wads, which are formed by setting 



otherwise apt to occasion bowel complaints in those anin 

 \*r^-^ Vr^^Ai :_ - .1 • , , ^ - -■ « _ ^K« bean 



put into small heaps, called wads, which are formed by setting For feeding swine the pea is much better adapted than the bean, 

 small parcels against each other, in order that they may be more it having been demonstrated by experience that hogs fatten more 

 Dertectlv dried both in seed and stpm r fhp«> wa/la nr K„r>,lloo i,:„^k. ,.,i,^„ r„j -.i. .i • ••' , ^ , ". i..» ic not 



perfectly dried both in seed and stem ; these wads or bundles 

 should be turned as often as possible. When wet weather hap- 

 pens whilst the peas lie in wads, it occasions a considerable loss, 

 many of them being shed in the field, and of those that remain a 

 great part will be so considerably impaired, as to render the sample 

 of little value. This inabihty of peas to resist a wet harvest. 



than 



easy to be accounted for, the flesh of swine which have been tea 

 on peas, it is said, will swell on boihng, and be well tasted, 

 whilst the flesh of the bean-fed hog will shrink on boiling, the 

 fat will boil out, and the meat be less delicate in taste. 



Peas straw cut green and dried is reckoned as nourishing a' 



together with the great uncertainty throughout their growth, and hay, and is c6nsidered as excellent for sheep. 



the fre(juent inadequate return in proportion to the length of the In the ^ .. » - ^* 



haulm, has discouraged many farmers from sowing so large a carefully 



>/ any paHtcular sorts fi 



i 



