296 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



THE PEA. 



Pisum sativum. 



The Pea is a hardy, annual plant ; and its cultivation and 

 use as an esculent are almost universal. 



To give in detail the various methods of preparing the 

 soil, sowing, culture, gathering, and use, would occupy a 

 volume. 



The following directions are condensed from an elaborate 

 treatise on the culture of this vegetable, by Charles Mcln- 

 tosh, in his excellent work entitled " The Book of the Gar- 

 den:" 



Soil and its Preparation. The Pea comes earliest to 

 maturity in light, rich soil. For early crops, mild manure, 

 such as leaf- mould, should be used ; for general crops, a 

 good dressing may be applied ; and for the dwarf kinds, 

 such as Tom Thumb, Bishop's New Long Pod, and the like, 

 the soil can hardly be too rich. 



Seed and Sowing. A quart of ripe peas is equal to 

 two pounds' weight, and contains, of the largest sized vari- 

 eties, thirteen hundred, and of the smaller descriptions two 

 thousand seeds. A pint of the small-seeded sorts, such as 

 the Daniel O'Rourke, Early Frame, and Early Charlton, 

 will sow a row sixty feet in length ; and the same quantity 

 of larger growing sorts will sow a row of nearly a hundred 

 feet, on account of being sown so much thinner. A fair 

 average depth for covering the seed is two and a half or 

 three inches ; though some practise planting four or five 

 inches deep, which is said to be a preventive against the 

 premature decay of the vines near the roots. 



As to distance between the rows, when peas are sown in 

 the usual manner (that is, row after row throughout the 

 whole field), they should be as far asunder as the length of 

 the stem of the variety cultivated : thus a pea that attains a 



