SOILS SUITABLE. 249 



six seeds of an average size, slightly and irregularly com- 

 pressed, and of a light dunnish colour always making an 

 excellent sample. The colour of the pods is not permanent : 

 sometimes they are met with green, in which case they 

 are, however, readily distinguishable from those of ordi- 

 nary peas by their thick and fleshy nature. 



Winter. This is more generally met with on the Con- 

 tinent than in this country : here, however, especially in 

 the south, its cultivation is increasing. It is very hardy, 

 and stands the severest winters without injury, coming 

 to harvest much earlier than the spring varieties. If this, 

 however, is sown in the spring, then it becomes a late 

 pea, and remains out after the others are harvested. It 

 grows to the height of 3 to 4 feet. The pods are small, 

 cylindrical, and straight, containing from four to six peas of 

 a dark colour, and smaller than any of the other varieties 

 of peas. It is the pois gris d'hiver of the French. 



The pea, like the bean, delights in soils of a calcareous 

 character, and is classed with it as one of our lime plants, 

 or plants into whose composition lime enters in large 

 proportions. The soils most suitable for peas are those of 

 a light loamy or marly character, rather partaking of the 

 characters of our best barley soils than of those which we 

 are accustomed to call wheat and bean soils. The neces- 

 sary conditions in the soil for peas cultivation are, that 

 it be perfectly free from stagnant water, and yet of suffi- 

 cient depth to retain its natural moisture, that it contain 

 a sufficient proportion of lime, and that it be in good 

 heart and tillage condition ; and if these points cannot be 

 secured, the chances of a good return are considerably 

 diminished. These characters we generally find in the 

 Boils of the secondary formations the cretaceous, oolitic, 

 and new red sandstone series ; while the soils proceeding 

 from the more recent tertiary formations, as the alluvial 

 deposits and the clays of the London basin, and the soils 



