18 



PISUM SATIVUM AND P. ARVENSE. 



Seasons. 



Distribution. 



Cultivation. 



Irrigation. 

 Harvesting. 



Injuries. 



Cost of cultivatioa. 

 Outturn. 



eastern Aryans. The origin of P. arvense has not been ascertained for certain. Ac- 

 cording to the researches of M. Decandolle, it would appear that Italy was most likely 

 its original home, for in no other country does it grow in such a spontaneous manner in 

 localities far removed from cultivation. Eoyle, however, believed it to be wild in the 

 khadir land of the Jumna near Dehli.* 



Both kinds are largely grown in some of the districts of these Provinces ; the 

 round-seeded one is, however, by far the more valuable and prolific of the two, and in- 

 cludes the white peas known as Jcdbli and patnai (Azamgarh District) according as they 

 are of large and small size. The greenish coloured peas which are included in the 

 second species are usually known as matiar or chattar, but must be carefully distin- 

 guished from the Tcasdri {Lathyrus saiivus), an entirely different species of pea, to which 

 they bear some resemblance, and which is cultivated much after the same fashion. 



Peas are a rabi crop, and are sown from the end of September to the middle of Oc- 

 tober, and reaped in March. In the western and central parts of the Provinces they 

 are most commonly grown as a second crop after indigo or rice in the preceding kharif, 

 and since they are hardly ever irrigated their average outturn is very small. With the 

 exception indeed of the Meerut District, in which the area under peas amounts to nearly 

 4 per cent, of the rabi cropped area, the cultivation of peas in the parts of the Provin- 

 ces which lie west of Allahabad is on a very trifling scale, only the common varieties 

 being grown. In the Allahabad District the area under peas rises to 5*9 per cent, on the 

 rabi cropped area, and in the districts of the Benares Division and of the east of Oudh, 

 their cultivation plays an important part in the agriculture of the district, the white 

 varieties being largely grown with careful tillage and irrigation. In Azamgarh, Gorakh- 

 pur and Basti, the area under peas amounts to 13"4 per cent, on the rabi cropped area, 

 and in wet seasons, when the ground is too damp to allow of wheat being sown in 

 time, peas are often sown in its place. 



As a rule they are sown, like gram, on heavy ground, and the coarser varieties do 

 not require, or at all events do not receive, very careful preparation. Manure is hardly 

 ever, if ever, used. They are sown broadcast, and ploughed in at the rate of 1\ maunds 

 per acre, if of the fine, and at 1 maund per acre, if of the coarse kind. 



They do not receive much irrigation except in Oudh and the Benares Division, where 

 nearly the whole of the crop receives at least one watering. 



They are harvested in the same manner as other rabi crops, but supply a certain 

 amount of food long before they are cut and carried, the green pods being regularly 

 picked for home consumption from the time when they first reach their full size. 



Like gram they sufier (especially the white varieties) from frost and from the rav- 

 ages of a caterpillar called the " Bahadura." 



The cost of production per acre may be put at Es. 12-13 for the coarse kind when 

 no irrigation is used, and Es. 17-13 for the fine kinds, assuming that two waterings are 

 given and the land is of rather higher rent. 



The average outturn in the Meerut, Eohilkhand, Agra, Allahabad and Jhansi Divi- 

 sions is about 10 maunds per irrigated, and 7 maunds per unirrigated, acre. In the Oudh 



♦ 111. Him. I.e. 



