CHAPTER XVIII 



THE PEA-WEEVIL — BRUCHUS PlSt 



Peas are held in high esteem by mankind. From 

 remote ages man has endeavoured, by careful culture, 

 to produce larger, tenderer, and sweeter varieties. Of an 

 adaptable character, under careful treatment the plant has 

 evolved in a docile fashion, and has ended by giving us 

 what the ambition of the gardener desired. To-day we 

 have gone far beyond the yield of the Varrons and 

 Columelles, and further still beyond the original pea ; 

 from the wild seeds confided to the soil by the first man 

 who thought to scratch up the surface of the earth, 

 perhaps with the half-jaw of a cave-bear, whose powerful 

 canine tooth would serve him as a ploughshare ! 



Where is it, this original pea, in the world of spon- 

 taneous vegetation ? Our own country has nothing 

 resembling it. Is it to be found elsewhere ? On this 

 point botany is silent, or replies only with vague proba- 

 bilities. 



We find the same ignorance elsewhere on the subject 

 of the majority of our alimentary vegetables. Whence 

 comes wheat, the blessed grain which gives us bread ? 

 No one knows. You will not find it here, except in the 

 care of man j nor will you find it abroad. In the East, 



