30 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



well-directed efforts of Messrs. Vilmorin, of Paris, and a few 

 others, I am not aware that much has been attempted, the re- 

 quirements for Green Peas and their use being there different 

 from and much more limited than in Great Britain— Peas, as 

 we know and grow them, are essentially a favourite vegetable 

 of John Bull and his relations. 



It will be neither possible nor necessary for me here to enter 

 upon a discursive history of the Pea, but authorities affirm that 

 its origin has been lost in obscurity. Certain it is that it was 

 known to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and probably to 

 our Saxon forefathers and the prehistoric occupants of the Lake 

 Dwellings. 



Botanically, the Pea (Pisum sativum, the Garden Pea, in- 

 cluding Pisum arvense, the Field Pea, as a variety only) belongs 

 to the natural order of the Leguminosce, and has a papilionaceous 

 flower, the corolla being formed of a large and, when expanded, 

 erect back petal called the standard, two wings, or side petals, 

 and the keel, consisting of two smaller petals united in front ; 

 these enclose a style with a carpel or legume (the incipient pod), 

 and ten coherent stamens, five long and five short. Fructification 

 or fertilisation of the Pea, as with some other papilionaceous 

 flowers, takes place naturally, when the blossom is yet unopened 

 and about half-sized, and a day or two before it expands. The 

 original plant was most likely, in its normal state, of a tall scan- 

 dent or climbing habit, the stalks of the compound leaves of 

 all the varieties, whether dwarf or tall, terminating in tendrils 

 which enable the plant to grasp neighbouring objects for its sup- 

 port. I take it, then, that all dwarfing is unnatural, and has 

 been secured by cultivation and selection ; this feature, never- 

 theless, proving an advantage in many cases to the gardener, and 

 a consequent improvement. On the other hand, a fair length of 

 straw is often of material value to agriculturists and large 

 growers of Peas for boiling, &c. 



Taking the Pea as a cultivated food-plant, we may divide it 

 into two sections — -Garden and Agricultural. These, are again 

 usually separated into early, main-crop, and late varieties, 

 according to their respective periods of maturing ; into tall 

 and dwarf sorts, according to the length of straw ; and into 

 wrinkled and round or plump and indented seeded kinds, as 

 indicated by the shape and appearance of the seed. 



