2 



HISTORY OF ITS INTRODUCTION. 



In 18()2, Herr Wagner, an agriculturist of Kircheim-Teck in Wur- 

 temberg, Germany, had occasion to visit the Little Carpathian 

 Mountains, where he observed that, while all other herbage had 

 been burned up by the intense summer drought, the masses of stems 

 and fohage of Lathyrus sylvestris remained green and tender. It 

 occurred to him that here was a good fodder plant for dry soils, the 

 more so as this luxuriant growth was upon pure chalk rubble. But 

 when Wagner put the Lathyrus to practical test he found it want- 

 ing in two particulars: first, it contained certain alkaloids which 

 rendered it disagreeable and injurious to cattle; and second, the seed 

 is protected by an exceedingly hard coat, so that it may lie in the 

 ground for years without germinating. 



Fig. a.— Flat Pea (Lathyius syhxstris ivag)icri). 



Thinking that possibly these defects might be eliminated by culti- 

 vation, Wagner undertook the systematic improvement of the Lathy- 

 rus. As a result the bitter alkaloids were gotten rid of, and the 

 hard, vitreous seed coat was rendered comparatively soft and pervious 

 to moisture, so that germination took place in two or three weeks, 

 instead of as many years, after sowing. This alteration was accom- 

 plished by yearly transplanting, each time to a better soil. 



The improved variety of Lathyims sylvestris thus brought into 

 notice was named Lathy ims s^jlvestris wagneri, in honor of the 

 cultivator. English agriculturists have named it "Flat Pea." It 

 has received much attention in Germany, but has not yet been culti- 

 vated on an extensive scale. A great deal has been published about 

 it, chiefly in newspapers and agricultural journals. In England it 

 has excited some interest, and in the arid regions of Cape Colony its 



