330 



LEGUMINOS^E. CLXXI. PISUM. 



The climate required by the pea is dry and not very warm, for 

 which reason as the seasons in this country are very often moist, 

 and sometimes exceedingly dry and hot in June and July, the pea 

 is one of the most uncertain of field crops. 



The season of sowing must differ considerably, according to 

 the intention of the cultivator. When they are grown for pod- 

 ding early for sale green, they should be sown at different times 

 from January to the end of March, beginning with the dryest 

 and most reduced soils, and with this intention they are sown in 

 the autumn in some southern counties. For the general crops, 

 from February to April, as soon as the lands can be brought into 

 proper order ; the grey sorts being employed in the early sow- 

 ings, and the white in the later. It is always best to sow early, 

 in order to get the crop off in time for a crop of turnips to fol- 

 low, being a profitable kind of husbandry which should never be 

 neglected. 



The quantity of seed must be different in different cases and 

 circumstances, and according to the time and manner in which 

 the crop is sown ; but in general it may be from 2-^ to 3 bushels, 

 the early sowings having the largest proportion of seed. 



The most common mode of sowing jield peas is broad-cast, but 

 the advantages of the row culture in the case of a crop so early 

 committed to the soil must be obvious. The best farmers, 

 therefore, always sow peas in drills, either after the plough, the 

 seed being deposited in every second or third furrow, or if the 

 land is in a pulverized state, by drawing drills with a machine, 

 or by ribbing. In Norfolk and Suffolk peas are generally dib- 

 bled on the back of the furrow, sometimes one, and sometimes 

 2 rows on each, but this method has no particular advantage. In 

 Kent, where immense quantitiesofpea.sare grown, both for gather- 

 ing green, and for selling ripe to the seedsman, they are generally 

 sown in rows, from 18 inches to 3 feet asunder according to the 

 kind, and well cultivated between ; 4 to 6 inches is a proper depth 

 for peas to be sown, but they will vegetate if sown at 1 foot in depth. 



The after culture given to field peas is that of hoeing, either 

 by the hand-hoe or the horse-hoe. Where the hand culture pre- 

 vails, it is the general custom to give two hoeings ; the first 

 when the plants are about 2 or 3 inches in height, and again just 

 before the period of their flowering. At the last of these opera- 

 tions, the row-s should be laid down, and the earth well placed 

 up to them. In Kent it is the custom, where this sort of crop is 

 much grown, when the distance of the rows is sufficiently great 

 to prevent the vegetation of weeds, to forward the growth of 

 the pea crops by occasional horse-hoeing and the use of the 

 brake-harrow, the mould being laid up to the roots of the plants at 

 the last operation, by fixing a piece of wood to the harrow. This 

 should, however, only be laid up on one side, the peas being always 

 placed up to that which is the most fully exposed to the sun. 



In harvesting the pea considerable care is requisite, both on 

 account of the seed and haulm. When pea crops become ripe 

 they wither and turn brown in the haulm, and the pods begin to 

 open. In this state they should be cut as soon as possible, in 

 order to prevent loss from shedding. In early crops the haulm 

 is generally laid up into loose open heaps, which when dry are 

 removed and stacked. In the general crops they are generally 

 put into small heaps, called wads, which are formed by setting 

 small parcels against each other, in order that they may be more 

 perfectly dried both in seed and stem ; these wads or bundles 

 should be turned as often as possible. When wet weather hap- 

 pens whilst the peas lie in wads, it occasions a considerable loss, 

 many of them being shed in the field, and of those that remain a 

 great part will be so considerably impaired, as to render the sample 

 of little value. This inability of peas to resist a wet harvest, 

 together with the great uncertainty throughout their growth, and 

 the frequent inadequate return in proportion to the length of the 

 haulm, has discouraged many farmers from sowing so large a 



portion of this pulse as of other grain, though in light lands 

 which are in tolerable heart the profit in a good year is far from 

 inconsiderable. 



In gathering green peas for the market, it is frequently a 

 practice with the large cultivators of early green pea crops in 

 the neighbourhood of London, to dispose of them by the acre to 

 inferior persons, who procure the podders ; but the smaller far- 

 mers, for the most part, provide this description of persons them- 

 selves. It is sometimes the custom to pick the crops over 

 twice, after which the rest are suffered to stand till they become 

 ripe, for the purpose of seed ; but being the worst part of the 

 crop are very improper for seed. This sort of crop affords the 

 most profit in those pea seasons which are inclined to be cool, us 

 under such circumstances the peas are most retarded in their 

 ripening, and of course the markets kept from being over abun- 

 dantly supplied, but in some warm dry seasons when their ri- 

 pening is hastened they scarcely repay the expences. 



The threshing of peas requires less labour than that of any 

 other crop. Where the haulm is wished to be preserved entire 

 it is best done by hand, as the threshing machine is apt to re- 

 duce it to chaff. But where the fodder of peas is to be given 

 immediately to horses on the spot, the breaking it is of no disad- 

 vantage. 



The produce of the pea in ripened seed is supposed by some 

 to be from 3| to 4 quarters an acre ; others, however, as Donald- 

 son, imagine the average of any two following crops not to be 

 more than about 1 2 bushels, and therefore may be considered as a 

 less profitable crop than most others. But as a means of ame- 

 liorating, and improving the soil at the same time, it is esteemed 

 as of great value. With respect to the produce of green peas in 

 the husk, the average of the early crops in Middlesex is supposed 

 to be from about 25 to 30 sacks the acre, which selling at from 

 8 to 10 shillings per sack, affords 18/. the acre. The author of 

 the " Synopsis of Husbandry," however, states the produce 

 about Dartford in Kent at about 40 sacks per acre, though he 

 says 50 sacks have been gathered from that space of land. 



The produce of peas in straw is very uncertain, depending so 

 much on the sort and the season, in general it is more bulky than 

 that of grasses, but may be compressed into less room. 



The produce of peas in flour is as 3 to 2 of the bulk of grain, 

 and husked and split for soups as 4 to 2. A thousand parts of 

 pea-flour afforded Sir H. Davy 574 parts of nutritive matter, 

 viz. 501 of mucilage, 22 of sugar, 25 of gluten, and 16 of ex- 

 tract or matter rendered insoluble during the operation. 



The use of peas for soups, puddings, and other culinary pur- 

 poses is well known. In some places porridge, brose, and bread 

 are made of pea-flour, and reckoned very wholesome and sub- 

 stantial. In Stirlingshire it is customary to give pease or bean 

 biscuits to horses while in the yoke as a refreshment. The por- 

 tion of peas that is not consumed as human food is mostly ap- 

 propriated to the purposes of fattening hogs and other sorts of 

 domestic animals, and in particular instances they are given to 

 laboring horses in place of beans, but care should be taken 

 when used in this way that they be sufficiently dry, as they are 

 otherwise apt to occasion bowel complaints in those animals. 

 For feeding swine the pea is much better adapted than the bean, 

 it having been demonstrated by experience that hogs fatten more 

 kindly when fed with this grain than on beans ; and what is not 

 easy to be accounted for, the flesh of swine which have been fed 

 on peas, it is said, will swell on boiling, and be well tasted, 

 whilst the flesh of the bean-fed hog will shrink on boiling, the 

 fat will boil out, and the meat be less delicate in taste. 



Peas straw cut green and dried is reckoned as nourishing as 

 hay, and is considered as excellent for sheep. 



In the sowing of any particular sorts for seed, they should be 

 carefully looked over while in flower, in order to draw out all 



