8 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



as half-dwarfs; from four to eight feet as tall sorts. 

 The peaa of the early gardeners, herbalists, and botanists 

 were probably tall peas, because in nearly every case 

 ill which cultivation is mentioned it is stated that stick- 

 ing is required. Camerarius in 1586 divided peas into 

 Pisam mains and Pisum mJnus. Probably this is 

 the first instance in which a botanist distinguished 

 between tall peas and half-dwarf peas. True dwarf 

 peas are first mentioned by Tournefort in 1700, although 

 he refers back to their existence in 1665. It is possible 

 that a pea called Middle Peason in England in 1591 

 is a half-dwarf. 



Straight-podded and scimitar-podded peas. 

 One assumes from the literature that the peas of the 

 ancients and those of the first centuries of its cultivation 

 in northern Europe were straight -podded. The first 

 direct reference to the scimitar-podded pea is found in 

 Worlidge, 1683, in a description of Sugar pease with 

 crooked cods, and in 1686 Raj' mentions a " Sickle 

 pease." Two years later in 1688 there is a fuller descrip- 

 tion of these Sickle pease in the Art of Gardening which 

 is quoted on p. 6, not only because of its account of 

 the Sickle pease but of various other sorts as well. 



This sketch of the evolution of the garden pea must 

 not be closed without naming the men who have done 

 most to improve modern peas, nearly all of whom are 

 Englishmen. The first and the most noteworthy pea 

 breeder was Thomas Andrew Knight whose experiments 

 with peas were carried on during the last decade of the 

 eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth. 



Knight discovered in 1787 a degenerate pea growing 

 in his garden at Chelsea, England, and pollinated it 

 from the blossoms of a gray pea. There were enormous 

 progeny, most of which grew luxuriantly and gave peas 

 of greatly improved character. Using these two peas 

 for parents for several years he produced in turn Knight's 

 Tall Green Marrow and Knight's Dwarf Green Marrow, 

 two sorts from which some say have come all modern 

 wrinkled peas. Knight's work stimulated other breeders 

 and during the first half of the nineteenth century 

 improved wrinkled sorts were introduced by so many 

 breeders that seedsmen and gardeners could hardly 

 test and keep track of the nomenclature of the introduc- 

 tions. Horticultural societies found it necessary to 

 carry on trials to straighten out the nomenclature of the 

 pea. Of these trials those of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society published results in 1845, 1860 and in 1872 

 which did much to bring the nomenclature of this 

 vegetable in order. 



In 1822, John Goss, resident of Devonshire, pub- 

 lished a remarkable paper in the Horticultural Society's 

 Transactions giving an account of the work he had done 

 in hybridizing peas in which was noted most of the 

 phenomena later discovered by Mendel which formed the 

 basis of Mendel's theories. Goss, unfortunately, did 

 not make the interpretation of the principles now asso- 

 ciated with Mendel's name, nor seek an explanation of 

 his results in hybridizing as did Mendel. None of 

 Goss' new peas can be named as landmarks in the 

 evolution of this vegetable. 



If one puts the introduction of valuable varieties 

 as a criterion of worth in improving peas, perhaps the 

 palm of merit should go to Dr. McLean of Colchester, 

 England, who made his first crossing in 1850 and there- 

 after for many years introduced one variety after another 

 that became standards of his time. Dr. McLean's 

 aim was to produce early dwarf wrinkled peas. Of 

 these Little Gem was the best known in America and 

 may be taken as the type with which this hybridizer 

 worked. 



Thomas Laxton followed McLean, taking the latter's 

 varieties as a basis for his experiments, but widened his 

 endeavors to produce peas earlier, of larger size, such as 

 filled the pod, and to keep the height of vine moderate. 



Other prominent breeders of the last half of the 

 nineteenth century were Henry Eckford, noted improver 

 of sweet peas, and W. Culverwell who bred the giant 

 podded sorts of which Telegraph, if not the first, was the 

 most noted and was the forerunner of most of the large 

 podded sorts that have followed. Telegraph, Telephone, 

 Stratagem and Duke of Albany, among the giant podded 

 sorts introduced at this time, are still grown in American 

 gardens. 



Of the several famous English seed houses which 

 sought to popularize the new peas of these breeders and 

 contribute new sorts of their own breeding perhaps the 

 firm of Sutton & Sons did most. Mr. Martin Y. Sut- 

 ton, speaking in 1897, records that the chief objects in 

 mind in the breeding work carried on by his firm were to 

 replace the small hard round-seeded tall -growing sorts 

 with peas of dwarf growth which would produce large 

 pods filled with wrinkled peas, having the marrowfat 

 flavor. Of the many admirable peas sent out by this 

 firm Sutton Excelsior and Magnum Bonum were best 

 known in the United States and are still largely grown 

 many decades after their introduction. 



Carter & Company and Hurst & Company, other 

 English seedsmen known the world over, helped to 

 distribute these noteworthy varieties from the hands of 

 the English breeders and contributed sorts of their 

 own to the trade. A full history of the pea could not 

 be written without devoting more than one page to 

 the plant improvers named and to seedsmen who by 

 hybridization and selection have so vastly improved 

 the pea. 



Peas were brought at an early date into the New 

 World as may be seen from the following references cited 

 by Sturtevant. 



" Peas were early introduced to the American 

 Continent, but, in notices of this plant, the word peason 

 refers sometimes, it is probable, to beans. In 1493, 

 peason are mentioned by Peter Martyr as grown at 

 Isabella Island by Columbus; in 1535, peason are 

 mentioned by Cartier as grown by the Indians of Hoche- 

 laga, now Montreal; and in 1613, peas were obtained 

 from the French traders grown by the Indians of the 

 Ottawa River; in 1540, peas are mentioned in New 

 Mexico by Alarcon and ' small, white peas ' by Coro- 

 nado; in 1562, peason were cultivated by the Florida 

 Indians, as related by Ribault. In 1602, peas were 



