92 buist's family kitchen gardenep.. 



use, in time af severe frost, leaving a balance in the ground 

 for Spring supply, and some to go to seed. The seed keeps 

 only two years — an ounce will supply a family. 



PEA. 



Plsum Sativum. — Pois^ Fr. — Erbse, Ger. 



The Pea is of great antiquity as a culinary vegetable, and 

 is familiar in the domestic cookery of every country. It is an 

 annual, the seed being sown and matured in the same season, 

 and in some varieties in an incredibly short space of time. 

 They are considered a pleasant and nourishing food, having 

 the character of purifying the blood and correcting scorbutic 

 humors. In flavor and quality there is as great a difference 

 in the Pea as in any vegetable with which I am acquainted, 

 though, from observation, cultivators nd even cooks have little 

 knowledge of the quality and flavor of the different varieties 

 in cultivation. Some, when merely plain boiled and seasoned, 

 are of themselves a luxury ; others require more assistance 

 from the culinary art to make them palatable. It is not our 

 object to detail the various modes of cooking, yet we confess 

 that we have seen them mis-boiled. . The earlier sorts take from 

 half an hour to three quarters ; the Marrow-fats, from fifteen 

 to twenty minutes, according to age. To have their flavor per- 

 fect, they should be picked, shelled, and cooked, all within three 

 or four hours. When kept over night their quality is greatly 

 impaired. Some prefer them boiled with a bunch of mint ; 

 t e only seasoning admitted by others, is a little salt in the 

 water. 



We will not detail the numerous sorts we grow or are ac- 

 quainted with, but the following will be found most useful 

 for market or family supply. They are those most noted for 

 their quality, and are arranged in the order in which they 

 come to maturity. 



