260 THE PEA CEOP. 



shouldered woollen moth), which finishes the work of 

 destruction already commenced. Stored peas suffer equally 

 with beans from the grain-beetle (Bruchus granarius), 

 and the pea-beetle (B.pisi), (see figs. 9, 10, p. 237), which 

 conduct their attacks in the manner already described. 

 Their transformations, from the egg to the perfect beetle, 

 are carried on so silently and securely that it is only by 

 the comparative lightness of the grain, or by the appear- 

 ance of the beetle, that any idea of the mischief that has 

 been inflicted can exist. Curtis recommends that the seed 

 peas be kept until the second year, when all the beetles 

 will have deserted them ; or they may be immersed in boil- 

 ing water for one minute, which will destroy the insect 

 without injuring the vitality of the seed. These destruc- 

 tive beetles are happily kept in check by certain ichneu- 

 mon flies the Sigalphus pallipes and Chremylua rubi- 

 ginosus which prey upon the bodies of those and other 

 members of the family Bruchidse. Light chalky soils ap- 

 pear to be most subject to the attacks of this destructive 

 family, probably owing to the weeds indigenous to such 

 soils favouring its powers of increase. 



The Chemistry of the pea crop has been well worked 

 out. The high estimation in which peas have been so long 

 held, both as a garden vegetable and as a valuable article 

 of food, in their stems as well as seeds, for all descriptions 

 of animals, has secured to them the attention of the leading 

 chemists, abroad as well as at home, whose investigations 

 have made known to us the composition of their organic 

 as well as inorganic constituents. The proportions of grain 

 to straw, of course, vary with the circumstances under 

 which they have been grown as soil, climate, variety, &c. 

 Johnston gives them at 1 to 208; Schwerz, at 27 to 73; 

 and De Gasparin at 1 to 3 5. The average may be taken 

 at 3 to 7, or 30 of grain and 70 of straw in the 100 parts. 

 The ash or inorganic matter in the seed averages about 



