THE GARDEN. PEA 



P. Mtlvum, Linn. : Duthif and Kull.-r. ; 8, t. xxxii. A. The Garden 



Pea, bara-maUar, bahtahna, kudo, iHanma, akandil, kalon. ahsa. m. khandu, 

 tdr-kdna, pattanir, yumlutani-yhelu, pat, otc. A more robust plant than the 

 former, compared \\ it h u Inch it in more valuable and prolific though a law hardy 

 T.. 1 1. It is not known anywhere as a wild plant, ami i regarded by tome a* 

 iii.-roly a variety or sub-species of **. rrM. 



The Held and garden pens am generally considered together by writer* on 

 Indian crops, and the methods of cultivation explained an applying equally to 

 both. In all parta of the country the pea is a rabi crop. According to Wooorow 

 (Gard. in Ind., 1903, 263-0), the varieties of the white form may be sown at any 

 time between May and January, if the rainfall is not over 40 inches. A 

 deeply cultivated soil that has been heavily manured for a previous crop and 

 I-.. 1 1 1.1 1 n- at least 5 per cent, lime is necessary for a good outturn. The area in 

 Bombay for 1005-6 was 15,636 acres. As a field crop peas are sown in moist 

 land iii October or November, and receive, as a rule, no manure or irrigation. 

 The crop is reaped at the end of February and March. Leaves and stalks are 

 much valued as fodder, under the name of halim. In Cuttack, Bengal, Banerjei 

 (Agri. Cuttack, 1893, 83) states that peas grow well on loose sandy soil after 

 maize. The maize crop is removed about the middle of August, and the land 

 ploughed twice or thrice between 15th August and 15th September. By the 15th 

 September the land is manured with cow-dung at the rate of twenty-five 

 cartloads to an acre, and then laid out in ridges and furrows at intervals of one 

 foot. The seed is sown by hand, at the bottom of the furrows, then covered 

 over, and the field watered every evening till the plants appear, six or eight days 

 aft. -I- wards. Watering is continued for two months more, at intervals of about 

 six days. About a fortnight after sowing, bamboo twigs are fixed into the 

 ground for the plants to climb on. Weeding is necessary once a month. 

 Flowering commences about the 15th October, and the pods begin to form in the 

 middle of November. By the middle of February the pods are dry and ready 

 for harvesting. In the United Provinces, Duthie and Fuller write that both species 

 of pea are largely grown in certain districts. They are not returned as a separate 

 crop, but together with masur (i.mn *cnimta, p. 708) occupied in 1904-5 an area 

 of 2,055,879 acres. They are sown from the end of September to the middle of 

 October, and reaped in March. In the western and central districts peas are 

 most commonly grown as a second crop after indigo or rice. As a rule they 

 are sown on very heavy soil, which receives little if any preparation and is rarely 

 manured. The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of 1 J to 1 maund per acre, and 

 ploughed in. In the Oudh and Benares Division the crop is watered pnce ; in 

 other localities it is not always irrigated. The cost of production per acre is 

 estimated at Rs. 12-13a. for the coarse kind with no irrigation, Rs. 17-13a. for 

 the fine kind, assuming that two waterings are given and the land is of higher 

 rent. For the year ending 1902 the average outturn of peas for the province 

 was calculated at 1,150 Ib. per acre irrigated, and 600 Ib. per acre unirrigated. 

 Cultivation in the Central Provinces closely resembles that in the United 

 Provinces, but the crop is never irrigated. The area in 1904-5 was 247,779 

 acres ; in Berar, 10,257 acres. In the Panjab, peas are cultivated as a field crop 

 almost entirely for fodder. Seed is sown on sailab lands in October and No- 

 vember after a couple of ploughings. It may be sown broadcast on the same sort 

 of soil, if too moist to plough. The seed-rate is 20 to 30 seers per acre. The 

 crop is pulled, not reaped\ in April, and the yield is 3 to 8 maunds seed per acre. 



Uses. The green pods are collected in many localities while the plant is 

 growing, and are either cooked and eaten like French beans, or the young seed 

 is extracted and eaten in the same way as by Europeans. The roasted green 

 pods are known in the Panjab under the name of dddhridn and dmidn. The ripe, 

 seed is also used whole, split as ddl, or ground and made into bread. In Burma 

 peas are employed in the preparation of vinegar (p. 1111). The green plant and 

 also the " straw " are extensively used and valued as FODDKR, more especially 

 in the Panjab and Bombay where they are regarded as equal to hay. [Cf. De 

 Candolle, Orig. Cult. Plants, 1882, 327-8 ; Bentham, Rev. of Targioni-Totzetti, 

 in Journ. Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 138; Asa Gray, Scient. Paper*. 1889. i.. 347; 

 Leather, in Agri. Ledg., 1901J No. 10, 372-3; 1903, No. 7, 152. 155, 184-5: 

 Imp. Inst. Tech. Repts., 1903, 235 ; Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron). 

 1904, 172-5; Joret, Lea PI. dans L'Antiq., ets., 1904. ii.. .'4'.t : I.-.k. riant 

 Breeding, Peas, Circ. and Agri. Journ. Roy. Bot. Gard. Ceylon, Jan. 1905, ii., pt. 3, 

 No. 27 ; Roy, Crops of Beng., 1906, 64.] 



903 



PISUM 

 AT1VUM 



Cultivation 



Bombay. 



Bengal 



PloofUacaad 

 lUaaffa* 



Sowing. 

 Oop. 



U. Prov. 



Aw*. 



1 ;' ' .r:.. 



C. Prov. 



Aim. 



Panjab. 



SMKM. 

 Food. 



