204 GARDENING. 



lar and successive supply. A loose and warm soil 

 is most favourable to this vegetable, which, by-the- 

 way, is neither improved in quality nor quantity 

 by stable manure. The soil of Clichy, and of Point 

 de jour des Colombe, &c., &c., in the neighbour- 

 hood of Paris, 'is a pure sand, principally devoted 

 to pea-crops, and yielding these most abundantly, 

 without the application of dung, new or old. What, 

 however, is essential in their treatment is, frequent 

 hoeing, and occasional watering if the weather be 

 dry, and seasonable propping for the tall sorts, 

 which ought to be completed by the time the plants 

 get to be three or four inches high. All the varie- 

 ties of this last description of the pea require double 

 the room given to dwarfs. The rows in which they 

 stand should not, therefore, be less than four feet 

 apart, and they should grow in these six inches 

 from each other, and their covering should not ex- 

 ceed two inches, nor be less than one, according to 

 the nature and condition of the soil in which they 

 are sown. We need scarcely remark that the dif- 

 ferent varieties should be cultivated apart. 



Like other vegetables, the pea is susceptible of 

 considerable improvement, by the simple means 

 of marking the finest plants of each variety, and 

 keeping them for seed. Wilson's frame and the 

 Knight pea have been formed in this way, and af- 

 ford sufficient proof of the wonders produced by a 

 very small degree of observation and care. 



The general relish for the pea has induced the 

 employment of means to have them on the table 

 the year round. The methods in use for this pur- 

 pose are two. According to one of them, the pea 

 is subjected to the action of boiling water for two 

 or three minutes, when it is withdrawn, cooled in 

 fresh spring water, dried in the shade, and, lastly, 

 hung up in paper bags in a dry and well-aired closet. 

 The other process is later and perhaps better ; in 

 this the pease are put into bottles, which are aftel- 



