CHAPTER XXVI. 



PEAS. 



THE GARDEN PEA. Pisum sativum. 



French, pois a ecosser; German, schal-erbsen ; Dutch, doperwten; 

 Danish, skalcerte; Italian, piselli da sgranare; Spanish, guisantes para 

 desgranar; Portuguese, ervilhas de grao. 



THE LENTIL. Lens esculenta. 



French, lentille; German, linse; Dutch, linze; Danish, lindse; Italian, 

 lente; Spanish, lenteja; Portuguese, lentilha. 



THE GARBANZO OR CHICK PEA. Cicer arietinum. 

 French pois chiche ; German, kicher-erbse ; Italian, cece ; Spanish, 

 garbanzos; Portuguese, chicaro. 



Dry heat is offensive to the pea, and its occurrence imposes the 

 chief limitation to the success of this vegetable in California. The 

 escape from this limitation consists in winter growth, as far as 

 practicable, and in recourse to the coast region where atmospheric 

 humidity is greatest and summer heat least. The pea is very hardy 

 against frost, and this advantage goes far to compensate for its 

 susceptibility to drought, because it enables it to thrive in the winter 

 in the very places where it perishes in summer. The obvious de- 

 duction is that in regions dependent upon rainfall the garden plant- 

 ing of the pea must be as early in the fall as adequate moisture has 

 reached the soil, and in regions where irrigation is available, it is 

 desirable that the start should be made in advance of rainfall for 

 the earliest product, and that other plantings follow for a succession, 

 until it is ascertained what is the latest date of sowing which will 

 reach satisfactory maturity. If practice proceed upon this basis, the 

 pea will be seen to have a much longer season than in wintry climates 

 although, in some places, midsummer growth is impracticable- 

 Most failures to realize this satisfaction with the pea are due to late 

 planting and failure to recognize that, in many parts of the state, the 

 pea is a winter and not a summer plant. 



In the growth of peas in the field most disappointments have 

 followed the same misapprehension, and the interior has conceded 



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