LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. — THE PEA. 



55 



its ammonia : the moisture in the soil 

 renders it soluble ; but in dry weather 

 water should be applied to effect this the 

 more speedily. The other rows had the 

 same quantity of pure rain-water applied 

 to them, and the soil was the same. A simi- 

 lar result followed the same experiment on 

 beans, and on various other culinary crops. 

 Our opinion is, that with guano, if the soil 

 be in a proper state, and in the absence 

 of stable manure, we are quite indepen- 

 dent of all other so-called manures what- 

 ever ; for although, for some purposes, 

 they do some good, yet they can never be, 

 like guano, of universal application. 



Forcing. — Even in our present state of 

 horticultural advancement, the pea is not 

 very generally forced : it is, however, in 

 some large establishments, grown in pots, 

 boxes, and heated pits. Being a native 

 of the more temperate regions, it does not 

 prosper in much heat ; that of a glass- 

 case or late peach-house seems a proper 

 medium. No doubt, ere long, pits will 

 be constructed for the express purpose; 

 and such structures as Mr Kivers' orchard- 

 houses would be almost all that would be 

 required. The very earliest and most 

 dwarf varieties (videZ^s of approved sorts, 

 S$c.) should be chosen. A rich vegetable 

 soil should be employed. Pots with 

 three or four seeds in each is the most 

 probable means of attaining a crop. A 

 temperature commencing at 40° and 50° 

 during the day will be sufficient until 

 the pods are beginning to form, rising 

 gradually afterwards from 55° at night 

 to 70° during sunshine. Forced pease 

 should be invariably transplanted, to 

 check luxuriance. If sown towards the 

 end of October, with good management 

 and in abundance of light, gathering may 

 be expected by the 1st of March. After 

 the pods are set, a little stimulant should 

 be applied in the shape of liquid manure. 



Approved sorts, and their qualities. — It is diffi- 

 cult, in attempting to do anything like justice 

 to a subject so involved in confusion as the pea 

 tribe has long been, and still is, to know whether 

 it would be best to give a list of those names 

 which have been sufficiently proved to be mere 

 synonymes of one another, and of those kinds 

 which are now quite unworthy of longer culti- 

 vation, or to confine ourselves to a notice of 

 those which are really distinct, so far as their 

 period of ripening, height, colour, and size can 

 be considered as distinctive marks, and which 

 are, on account of one or more of these cha- 

 racteristics, most deserving of cultivation. We 



think the latter mode will be the most generally 

 useful. 



As an instance of the deceptions carried on 

 in the pea-trade, we may notice that of the 

 Egyptian or mummy pea, said to have been 

 raised from seeds taken out of a vase hermeti- 

 cally sealed, found in a mummy-pit in Egypt, 

 computed to have been kept in that state about 

 three thousand years, which has been found no 

 other than the well-known branching marrow 

 of our own gardens. 



From the experiments made about two years 

 ago in the gardens of the London Horticultural 

 Society, under the direction of Mr Thomson, 

 who sowed no less than 235 reputed sorts, all 

 of which were at that time enumerated in seed- 

 lists, only twenty-seven of that number were se- 

 lected as being really useful. This selection the 

 editor of " The Gardeners' Chronicle" at that time 

 thought might safely be reduced to half-a-dozen. 

 During the years 1850-51. we sowed upwards of 

 one hundred reputed sorts in the gardens at Dal- 

 keith — fifty sorts in each of these years. They 

 were in each case sown on the same day (25th 

 March), in the same soil, and under the same 

 circumstances. Out of that number we selected 

 twelve as being truly distinct and useful ; yet 

 one half of these would be quite sufficient for 

 even our use, who require them during the 

 longest possible period. New sorts are yearly 

 springing up, and therefore it would be inju- 

 dicious not to give them a fair trial ; for as we 

 progress in pea-culture, as in everything else, we 

 may naturally expect that improved sorts will 

 arise and take the place of others that may be 

 inferior. We have elsewhere stated that the 

 height to which they grow regulates pretty 

 nearly the distance at which they should be set 

 apart, either between the rows, or individually 

 in the line. 



The following are the names of Mr Thompson's 

 select list of eleven out of the above twenty-seven 

 as determined at the above date ; the heights 

 and properties, &c. we have added: — 



1. Prince Albert. — From 2| to 3 feet, accord- 

 ing to soil; a white-seeded pea, forming with 

 Kent's early, early hero, early Warwick, early 

 May, and a lot of others, a section of which the 

 true early frame is the type, and comprising 

 our earliest sorts ; moderate croppers ; pods con- 

 tain from eight to ten peas each. 



2. D'Auvergne.—i feet; seeds white ; remark- 

 able for its long crooked pods, and the great 

 number of moderate-sized peas each pod con- 

 tains; one of our best for second or general 

 crops. This is identical with Richardson's 

 eclipse and Torwoodlea, two Scotch synonymes. 



3. Dancer s monastery. — 4^feet; seedswhite; a 

 good profitable sort for a second or general crop; 

 peas of moderate size, rather above medium. 



4. Bishop's new long pod. — 2 feet ; seeds 

 white. A most abundant bearer, producing 

 a succession of pods during most of the pea 

 season. Like all dwarf peas of its class, it re- 

 quires a rich soil, and from 4 to 6 inches between 

 the seed in the line. We have had this pea 

 producing a good supply for three months in 

 succession. It is one of the most valuable sorts 

 for small gardens, and for domestic use : its only 



