148 The American Naturalist. [February, 
1597, is described by Ray® in 1686, Tournefort in 1700, etc. 
The second form is mentioned by Worlidge* in 1683 as the 
Sugar pease with crooked cods, by Ray* as Sickle pease. In 
the Jardinier Frangais, 1651, Bonnefonds describes them as the 
Dutch pea, and adds that until lately they were very rare, and 
Roquefort says they were introduced to France by the French 
ambassador in Holland about 1600. In 1806, McMahon in- 
cludes three kinds among American esculents. 
About 1683, Meager* names nine kinds in English culture ; 
in 1765 Stevenson,” thirty-four kinds; in 1783 Bryant * names 
fourteen; 1806 McMahon ® has twenty-two varieties; Thor- 
burn’s Calendar, 1821, contains eleven sorts, and his seed cata- 
logue of 1828 had twenty-four sorts ; in 1883 Vilmorin describes 
one hundred and forty-nine; in the report of the New York Ag- 
ricultural Experiment Station for 1884, ninety-three varieties are 
described in full. 
Peas and peason are named in America in 1535, 1540, 1562, 
etc., but we cannot be sure from the references whether peas or 
beans of the pea-shape were intended. In 1602, however, 
peas were sown by Gosnold“ in the Elizabeth Islands off the 
coast of Massachusetts, were grown from French seed by the 
Indians of the Ottawa river in 1613,“ were grown in excellent 
quality by the colonists of Massachusetts in 1629,” and in 1779 
were among the Indian foods destroyed by General Sullivan in 
western New York.* 
The fea is called in France, pois; in Germany, erse; in 
Flanders and Holland, erwż; in Denmark, haveoert ; in Italy, 
33 Ray. Hist., 1686, 891. 
34 Syst. Hort., 1683, 197. 
35 Gard. Chron., 1843, 71. 
36 Meager, Eng. Gard., 89. 
31 Stevenson. Gard. Cal., 1765, go. 
38 Bryant. Fl. Dict., 1783, 305. 
3 McMahon. Am. Gard. Cal., 1806. 
4 Smith’s Virg. Pinkerton Coll, XIII, 20. 
“1 Parkman. Pion. of Fr., 352. 
#2 Higginson, Mass. Hist. Soc. Col., rst ser., I, 118. 
43 Conover. Early Hist. of Geneva, 47. 
