254 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



a monopoly of pea conditions to the coast when the former can 

 grow large amounts of forage, at least, by taking a different time 

 of the year for it. Fortunately, this fact is coming to be better 

 understood, and large fields of peas are now grown as winter feed 

 for dairy cows and in the orchard to be plowed under early in the 

 spring for green manuring, where only recently the pea was sup- 

 posed to be unsuited to the climate. These remarks apply to the 

 true pea, not to the so-called "cow-pea," which really belongs to the 

 bean family and is very susceptible to frost injury. 



Soils and Situations for the Pea. The pea succeeds on a wide 

 variety of soils a good, rich loam of sufficient retentiveness being 

 the ideal. Where it is winter-grown, with moderate heat and ample 

 moisture, lighter soils can be successfully used, because they are 

 warmer and dispose of the surplus water more readily. Though 

 the pea withstands much frost, it needs warmth for rapid advance- 

 ment, and for this reason the earliest peas, as, for example, peas for 

 Christmas from September sowing, are grown where there is little 

 frost, and hillsides are often used to escape the heavier frosts of the 

 valley below. In moist bottom lands in the interior, and on uplands 

 near the coast, peas naturally thrive much later in the season than 

 on the interior plains and hillsides, and the latest green peas are 

 grown in the moist lands of the coast valleys, moisture being retained 

 by cultivation or supplied by irrigation, according to local conditions. 

 By using these different situations green peas are available for city 

 trade nearly the entire year. 



Culture. From what has been said it may be inferred that the 

 pea at different times of the year is to be handled with all the arts 

 for releasing or retaining moisture, which are described in the 

 chapters on the planting season, drainage and cultivation. The 

 reader should study these, and choose the methods adapted to the 

 soil and time of the year with which he expects to operate. Depth 

 of planting is also governed by these factors, as described in the 

 chapter on propagation. The pea will thrive with deep covering, 

 according to the soil and moisture even to covering the seed in a 

 plow furrow in a light soil but in a heavier soil, with assurance of 

 moisture, a single inch of depth may best favor its growth. Deep 

 working of the soil is also, as a rule, acceptable to the pea and where 

 the crop is to come late and to endure a measure of heat and 

 drought, deep working in preparation and fine surface cultivation, as 

 late as feasible without injury to the vines, is necessary. But, on 



