KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
Turnip-rooted. —Roots resembling a round Turnip, 
from 4 to 6 inches in diameter, and terminating in a 
strong tap-root. It is the earliest sort, and from the root 
growing principally above-ground, it succeeds well in 
ground too shallow for the other kinds. 
Fig. 1246.—Parsnip—Tender and True. 
Pea (Piswm sativum).—This should be known 
as the Garden Pea, to distinguish it from the 
Field Pea (P. arvense). The latter is grown 
largely for its haulm, highly esteemed as fodder, 
and differs from the Garden Pea in being 
hardier, purple-flowered, and in having brown- 
red or brown-speckled seeds. 
The Garden Pea is an annual, with climbing 
slender hollow stems, and soft green pinnate 
leaves, terminating in tendrils which cling 
readily to bushes, &c., enabling the plant to 
climb. The stem varies in length from 6 feet 
or more, when it branches freely (fig. 1247), to 
about 9 inches (fig. 1248). The flowers, which 
are white and usually in pairs, begin to develop 
early, and fruits are usually abundant. There 
is much variety in the size and shape of the 
fruits (pods), and also in the seeds, which are 
either wrinkled or smooth, and cream-white or 
pale-green when ripe. It was cultivated for 
its edible seeds over two thousand years ago. 
Its botanical name, Piswm, is derived from Pisa, 
a town once famous for its Peas, and the popu- 
lar name is from the same word—Pea, Peas, or, 
as Gerarde has it, “Peason”. Its origin is 
unknown, beyond that it is probably Asiatic, 
and that it is certainly an introduced plant in 
Europe. Peas are said to have been an im- 
portant crop in England in the eleventh cen- 
tury. ‘Before the introduction of the Potato, 
Peas were largely eaten by the working-classes, 
and a food so rich in nitrogen was doubtless 
the cause of the superior muscular. development 
among the peasantry. So important was this 
crop held to be, that in the letting of a farm 
ree 
479 
the proportion of ‘Siddan’ land (Pea land) was 
always taken into consideration.” 
According to Gerarde there were numerous 
varieties of Peas in cultivation in England in 
the latter part of the sixteenth century. In 
1710 mention is made in Salmon’s Herbal of 
the following “ Pease”:—Early or Fulham, 
Green and White Hastings, Rounceval, Grey, 
Spotted, and ‘“ Peas without skins”. 
The eve of the nineteenth century was an 
important era in the evolution of the Garden 
Pea. In 1787 Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight, 
President of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
made some experiments in crossing different 
forms of Peas, including one, ‘‘a white Pea, 
which possessed the remarkable property of 
shrivelling excessively when ripe”. From 
these he obtained Knight’s Green and White 
Wrinkled Marrow Peas. Writing in 1817, 
he said, “The Pea which I have always 
planted for autumnal crops is a very large 
kind, of which the seeds are much shrivelled, 
and which grows very high: it is now very 
common in the shops of London, and my name 
has, I believe, been generally attached to it. I 
prefer this variety because it is more saccharine 
than any other, and retains its flavour late into 
the autumn.” This was Knight’s Tall Wrinkled 
Pea, afterwards sent out as British Queen. 
Tn 1850, Dr. Maclean of Colchester commenced 
to cross-fertilize Peas. He raised numerous first- 
rate sorts, which were distributed by Turner 
and Veitch. Among them was Veitch’s Per- 
fection, which has held its place ever since as 
one of the best medium-height wrinkled Peas in 
cultivation.. Without doubt it is a descendant 
of Knight’s Dwarf Green Wrinkled. Little 
Gem, also raised by Maclean, was the first very 
dwarf wrinkled Pea. 
Other successful raisers of first-rate Peas 
were Mr. T. Laxton, Mr. Culverwell, and Mr. 
Eckford. Messrs. Sutton and Sons have intro- 
duced many excellent sorts of Peas, including 
Perfection, Late Queen, Excelsior, Centenary, 
&e. Messrs. Carter & Sons also have dis- 
tributed many good Garden Peas, including 
Sherwood, Edward VII, Surprise, &e. 
The cross-fertilizing of the flowers of Peas is 
an operation requiring much care, that is, if a 
cross is to be obtained, many supposed crosses 
being nothing more than the result of self- 
fertilization. The following directions were 
given by Mr. N. N. Sherwood in the Journal of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, vol. xxii (1898), 
to whom we are also indebted for some of the 
particulars above given :— 
