222 THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



43. PEA. PlSUM. 



Pisum sativum. The Latin name of Pisum is 

 supposed to be derived from Pisa (a town of Elis), 

 where peas anciently grew in great plenty : the 

 latter name has been often before mentioned. 



The English name is evidently a corruption of 

 the Latin, as both Tusser and Gerard (old English 

 authors, who wrote in the reigns of Mary and 

 Elizabeth) called it peason, which, by the omission 

 of the two last letters, has formed the name of this 

 popular vegetable for the last hundred years. 



At what period the garden pea was first culti- 

 vated in England is left to conjecture ; but it was 

 most probably in the reign of Henry VIII. ; though 

 garden peas appear to have been rare even in the 

 early part of Elizabeth's reign, and even those made 

 use of were generally brought from Holland. But 

 in the latter part of the same reign, gardening had 

 made so considerable a progress, and, at the same 

 time, the cultivation of peas, that a supply nearly 

 sufficient to answer the demand, was raised in the 

 vicinity of London ; and since that time they have 

 more than kept pace with the increased population 

 of the immense metropolis; and through the art 

 and industry of the gardener this luxury is now 

 furnished so plentifully that green peas are often 

 sold at ^d. and 6d. the peck. 



Peas, when green, are a pleasant and nourishing 

 food ; but they are considered somewhat flatulent ; 

 though this quality may generally be corrected by 

 the use of mint. They are excellent in sweetening 

 the blood, and in correcting scorbutic humours. 



