PEAS 



489 



gardeners about Paris give the name of " mailles " to the flower- 

 bearing joints of the Pea-stem, and when they want to describe a 

 variety as one-flowered or two-flowered, they say that it "has one or 

 two flowers to the ' maille! " The flowers are sometimes white, 

 and sometimes violet-coloured, with the wings and keel of a darker 

 shade than the standard. The varieties which have coloured 

 flowers may be distinguished long before they come into bloom, by 

 having a small reddish circle around the stem where it is clasped 

 by the stipules. 



The seeds of the violet-flowered Peas are always more or less 

 tinged or spotted with brown. When boiled, they turn to an 

 unattractive grayish colour, and have a rather strong rough flavour, 

 in consequence of which they are not grown for shelling ; only the 

 edible-podded sorts are grown for table use. Varieties of Gray Peas 

 which have tough leathery pods are only grown for feeding cattle. 



Most of the varieties which are grown for table use have white 

 flowers, and the seed also is white or green when ripe. The size 

 and weight of the seed vary too much in the different varieties to 

 permit us to treat of them here in a general manner, but we shall 

 mention these matters in detail in the description of each variety. 

 We shall only observe that the germinating power of the seed lasts 

 good for three 'years, after which it speedily declines, although 

 it is not unusual to find some seeds germinating well after seven 

 or eight years. Wrinkled Peas usually do not germinate so well 

 as the Smooth-skinned, or round. Peas, nor does their germinating 

 power last so long. 



Among the very numerous varieties of Peas, a distinction is 

 made between those of which only the seeds, whether green or 

 dried, are eaten, and which are termed Shelling Peas, and those 

 of which the pods are eaten entire when the seeds are hardly 

 formed in them ; these are called Edible-podded, Or Sugar, Peas. 



Among the varieties of Shelling Peas, a distinction is made 

 between the Smooth or Round-seeded and the Wrinkled kinds, the 

 latter of which are now nearly as numerous as the others. And 

 lastly, both the Edible-podded and the Shelling Peas are divided 

 into the three classes of Tall, Half-dwarf, and Dwarf Peas {Pois a 

 RameSy P. Demi-Nains^ and P. Nains). All these differences, without 

 taking into account the green or white colour of the seeds, have 

 caused the cultivated varieties of Peas to be grouped into classes or 

 sub-divisions, under which we shall describe each kind in succession. 



Culture. *-The cultivation of Peas presents no great difficulty, 

 and in the vicinity of Paris and other large towns it is carried on 

 in the open fields on a large scale, and usually very profitably. 

 The soil in which they are grown should be, as far as possible, well 

 drained, rich, and of a medium consistence. The seed is sown in 

 drills, from the middle of November to March. The Early Frame 



* See also p. 765. 



