Ch. XV.] ON PEASE. 219 



Regarding seed and produce, no aricle of farm growth is subject to 

 greater fluctuation in point of price, or is charged for more extravagantly 

 when sold for seed, than favourite sorts of peas ; for new kinds are being 

 constantly raised, and, when they turn out well, every grower is anxious to 

 try them : thus, during the last season, we have known 16s. the bushel 

 charged by the seedsman for a favourite species which he had actually 

 bought in the previous year of the same farmer at fis. The choice of seed 

 is, however, a matter which must be left to the character of the seller ; for 

 unless the buyer grows it himself, he has no other guide than its reputation. 

 The period of sowing varies with the nature of the pea ; the late kinds being 

 commonly put into the ground so early as the beginning of January, and 

 continued during the two following months. Sometimes, indeed, they are 

 sown even in November, and covered over with loose straw to protect 

 them during the winter; while the early sorts are frequently not sown 

 until the beginning of April, or even in May ; but the crop is subject 

 to become more or less productive and thick in the husk according to soil 

 and climate. Early sowing is, however, thought to guard against mildew; 

 and cautious farmers — particularly if they wish to pod the crop — often 

 adopt the plan of sowing the land at three or four difterent periods, — ten 

 or fifteen days between each. 



The quantity of seed usually sown broad-cast is about three bushels per 

 acre ; but when drilled, it of course depends upon the distance between the 

 rows. Much less than what is generally sown would no doubt fill the land 

 with plants, if the coming up of all the seed could be relied on ; but such 

 havoc is committed by field-mice, birds, and slugs, that perhaps more than 

 one-half is destroyed. Steeping the seed is never used as a preventive 

 against disease ; but that which is old, or that is sown late in the season, is 

 sometimes soaked for a few hours in water to forward its germination. The 

 diseases to which the plants are subject are nearly similar to those of 

 beans; and they are also exposed to injury from various species of beetles, 

 and other insects, which deposit their eggs in the young pods, as well as to 

 the destruction of the seed by vermin. 



Nothing can be more uncertain than the produce of the 'grain, which 

 seems entirely dependent upon circumstances regarding the state of the 

 atmosphere at the time of blossoming, and with the precise nature of which 

 we are unacquainted. Even when that is successi'ully passed, the crop 

 may be so burnt up, by the want of showers, during a dry summer, as 

 to be scarcely worth gathering. In dripping seasons — which are favour- 

 able to the growth — so much as 84 bushels of the Marlborough grey pea 

 have been got from a single acre, though on good soils, and in favourable 

 seasons, 30 bushels are considered a fair crop ; but on land of a less 

 fertile quality, 20 bushels, or perhaps three quarters per acre may be 

 about the average. The haulm, however, makes up in a great measure for 

 this deficiency, for it is not only in general abundant, but very nutritive, 

 and much relished by cattle. It is commonly given as rack-meat to cart- 

 horses, instead of hay, and sheep are extremely fond of it ; so much so, in- 

 deed, that it is by no means uncommon for farmers, who keep large flocks, 

 to grow pease chiefly with a view to it as winter food in pinching seasons: 

 the seed being in that case generally sown broad-cast, both to preserve the 

 succulence of the haulm, and to save the trouble of the drill culture. They 

 are also not unfrequently grown on many farms in conjunction with tares, 

 as green food for soiling. 



The early kinds of peas are commonly ready for the barn about the 

 middle of July, though, of whatever species, the crop may be considered 



