HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



PEA 



Its height was nine feet. It weighed this time 

 at the rate of fifty-five tons to the acre, green, 

 and eight tons dried. The third crop started as 

 rapidly as the second, but the cool September 

 nights lessened its tropical luxuriance, so that 

 this crop, which was cut on October 1st, only 

 weighed ten tons green, and one and a half tons 

 dried. The growth was simply enormous, thus: 

 First crop in forty-five days gave thirty tons 

 green, or six and a half tons dry; second crop in 

 forty-five days, gave fifty-five tons green, or eight 

 tons dry ; third crop in forty-five days, gave ten 

 tons green, or one and a half tons dry; the ag- 

 gregate weight being ninety-five tons of green 

 fodder in one hundred and thirty-five days 

 from the date of sowing, and sixteen tons when 

 dried to hay. This exceeds the Clover meadows 

 of Mid-Lothian, which, when irrigated by the 

 sewage from the City of Edinburgh, and cut 

 every four weeks, gave an aggregate of seventy- 

 five tons of green Clover per acre. There is lit- 

 tle doubt that Pearl Millet is equally as nutri- 

 tious as Corn fodder, which it resembles even 

 more than it does any of the other Millets. We 

 found that all our horses and cattle ate it greed- 

 ily, whether green or dry. If sowing in drills 

 is not practicable, it may be sown broadcast, 

 using double the quantity of seed, say sixteen 

 quarts per acre. The ground should be 

 smoothed by the harrow, and again lightly har- 

 rowed after sowing: if rolled after harrowing, 

 all the better. I know of no farm crop that will 

 better repay high manuring, but so great is its 

 luxuriance, that it will produce a better crop 

 without manure than any other plant I know of. 

 In those parts of the Southern States where hay 

 cannot be raised, this is a substitute of the easi- 

 est culture; and being of tropical origin, it will 

 luxuriate in their long hot summers. Even 

 though our Northern seasons may be too short 

 to mature the seeds, our experiments in New 

 Jersey this summer show what abundant crops 

 may be expected if similar conditions are 

 secured. Pearl Millet as a fodder plant presents 

 a new feature in our agriculture, and I feel sure 

 that within ten years we shall wonder how we 

 ever got on without it. As we have had many in- 

 quiries as to the best manner of drying Pearl 

 Millet for ' Hay, ' we would state that our crop 

 was sown in a solid block, so that when cut it 

 had to be removed from the land where it grew, 

 and tied in sheaves, and hung up on an extem- 

 porized rail fence. This plan, of course, would 

 not answer when grown on a large scale, as the 

 crop is so enormous that such an expedient for 

 drying would be too expensive both for labor 

 and rails, and as it is too heavy and succulent 

 to be dried, like Timothy and Clover, on the 

 ground where it is cut, it must be removed, for 

 to attempt- to dry it where it grows would de- 

 stroy the second crop. Circumstances, of course, 

 must in a great measure be the guide, but we 

 would suggest that, when grown for the pur- 

 pose of being dried, it be sown in beds, say 

 twelve feet wide, with alleys six feet between, 

 where it may be dried ; this, of course, would be 

 a loss of one-third of the land for the first crop, 

 but it would be little or no loss of crop in the 

 second, for the Millet would spread so as to fill 

 up all the six feet of alley." 



Pear. Pyrus communis. The Pear, like the Apple, 

 is indigenous to most parts of Europe. Histor- 

 ically speaking, it is not so ancient as the Apple. 

 At what period it became ameliorated, or re- 

 moved from its wild state, is unknown. In re- 



PEL 



gard to its hardiness and longevity, it is greatly 

 superior to the Apple or any other of our fruits. 

 There are trees existing, and in bearing condi- 

 tion, over three hundred years old. The Ro- 

 mans cultivated thirty-six varieties in the days 

 of Pliny, and Parkinson, in his Herbal, (1629,) 

 speaks of sixty -four sorts in the London nurser- 

 ies. The history of the cultivated Pear has 

 never been written. It was at an early period 

 common in Syria, Egypt, and Greece ; whence it 

 was imported into Italy, France, Germany, and 

 Great Britain. Pear culture in France has been 

 carried on to a most wonderful extent, thirty- 

 six hundred varieties having been offered from 

 one nursery. The Pear, though not indigenous 

 to the United States, grows here to the greatest 

 perfection, both as regards quality and quantity. 

 The leading horticulturists of the country hav- 

 ing made a specialty of its cultivation, aided by 

 congenial soil and climate, their efforts for the 

 production of perfect fruit have been happily 

 rewarded. The Seckel, the recognized standard 

 of perfection wherever the Pear is grown, is of 

 American origin, as are many other kinds of the 

 best quality. 



Pecan-Nut. See Carya. 



Pedicularis. From pedicidus, a louse; the sup- 

 posed effect on sheep eating it. Linn. JDidynamia- 

 Digynia. Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



A genus of plants popularly known as Louse- 

 worts. P. syli-atica and P. palustris, indigenous 

 to Great Britain, were formerly supposed to pro- 

 duce in sheep eating them the disease which 

 gave name to the genus ; but there is no good 

 reason for such a belief. Some of the species are 

 beautiful little plants, with very regular, finely 

 cut leaves. They are propagated by seeds. 



Pedilanthus. From pedUon, a slipper, and anthos, 

 a flower. Linn. Dodecandria-Trigynia. Nat. Ord. 

 Euphorbiacece. 



A small genus of curious plants, resembling 

 in habit and general appearance the Euphorbia, 

 to which genus they may be referred for culti- 

 vation. 



Pelargonium. Stork's-bill. From pelargos, a 

 stork; referring to the beak-like formation of 

 the seed-pod. Linn. Monadelphia-Heptandria. Nat. 

 Ord. Geraniacea;. 



A very extensive genus of green-house ever- 

 green shrubs, and a limited number of bien- 

 nials and annuals. They are mostly natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope; a few occur in Austra- 

 lia, one in the Canary Islands, and one in Asia 

 Minor. The scarlet kinds are popularly called 

 Geraniums, though very different from the genus 

 of that name, when viewed in a botanical sense. 

 The greater number of kinds cultivated in the 

 green-house and garden are hybrids, which are 

 produced with great facility in this genus. The 

 great number of varieties already produced, em- 

 bracing a great range of form and color, is truly 

 astonishing, and every year adds to the number 

 new varieties in some respects superior to any 

 before introduced. The improvement in the fo- 

 liage even has been almost as marked as in the 

 flower. We have now a sufficient number of 

 varieties with ornamental foliage to constitute a 

 distinctive feature in the green-house, and which 

 are useful to the florist in making up his bou- 

 quets, baskets, and ornamental designs. All this 

 is due to the untiring zeal of the florist. We 

 cannot follow up the history of the introduction 

 of these choice hybrids, but must be content 

 with giving a brief account of the species to 

 which the various classes belong. All the spe- 



