THK HISTORY OF THE COWPEA. 51 



the names " calavance," " bonavist," " cuckolds increase," and " black- 

 eyed pea " all appear in the natural history literature of (he West 

 Indies earlier than they occur in the accounts of the American colonies 

 indicates that they came from the West Indies to the mainland. 

 Lunan, 1814 (Ilortus Jamaicensis, 1:1GT), under " Dolichos " says: 

 " Resides the above indi«renous species, three exotic ones have been in- 

 troduced, the lablab, of which arbours are made in the East; the 

 siTte7if<i.<!, or Chinese dolichos; and the catjang, which is said to be 

 cultivated for food in the East Indies/* 



The discussion ^iven by Komans indicates that " pease '" had been 

 grown in the southern colonies for several yeai's, long enough at 

 least for their use to become " well known." In ^^irginia, however, 

 there is evidence that Vif/na ungu'tciilata was not cultivated, at least 

 to any extent, at so early a date. The corresiiondence of AVashington 

 affords interesting evidence of this fact. A letter dated Hyde-Park, 

 Fairfax County, November 18, 1791, in reply to a circular letter sent 

 out by Washington (Letters on Agriculture to Arthur Young and 

 Sir John Sinclair, edited by Franklin Knight, 01, 1847), contains 

 the following statement : 



As to i)('as*>, beans, jjotatoes, and turnips, our lands yield them very W(>11, but 

 as they are not raised for market in general I ean not say w liat may be their 

 average i»roduct per aere. It has ever appeared to nie that if the farmers in 

 EiU'ope. who lay so much stress upon these articles in their writings, had our 

 excellent substitute for them, Indian corn, they would only regard them as we 

 do, for culinary purposes. 



Washington was accustomed to growing seeds of new^ plants that 

 might prove of agricultural value, and there are frequent references 

 in his correspondence to seeds which had come from England or 

 other countries and of which he wished the gardener to take particu- 

 lar care. The following are mentioned in Washington's correspond- 

 ence, besides the staj^le crops of corn, wheat, etc. : Lucern, sainfoin, 

 India hemp, buckAvheat, furze, flax, white bent-grass, everlasting 

 peas, and English field peas. 



It was Washington's practice, sometimes, at least, to plant potatoes 

 with corn, since in a rotation of crops recorded in " George Washing- 

 ton and Moimt Vernon," edited by M. D. Conway, 287, 1889, " Indian 

 corn, with intermediate rows of potatoes, or any root more certain 

 or useful (if such there be) that will not impede the plough, hoe, or 

 harrow^ in the cultivation of the corn," is given for one crop of the 

 rotation. There is apparently no reference in any letter of Washing- 

 ton to the cultivation of peas or beans with corn. He used buck- 

 wheat as a green manure. 



The first reference by Washington to the cow]:)ea is in a letter to 

 Landon Carter, of Cleve, dated Philadelphia, :27th February, 1797, 



102— VI 



