VETCHES. PEAS. 185 
With the Roman ladies bean-flour was in much repute 
as a cosmetic. 
Garden-beans are almost wholly confined to culinary 
uses. What are called French-beans, and Kidney-beans, 
belong to a different tribe from the present. 
Bean stalks, if subjected to a certain process, are 
capable of being converted into paper. 
199. VETCHES are a small species of beans (Vicia sa- 
tiva) which grow ivild in dry meadows, pastures, and corn-fields, 
and are also cultivated in most parts of England. 
The pods are generally in pairs; and the leaves winged, 
having each about six pairs of' leaflets, with a branched tendril at 
the extremity. At the bases of each of the leaves there is a small 
stipule, marked with a dark spot. 
The principal use of vetches is as provender for 
horses and cattle. They are grown so early as to allow 
of being fed off, or cut for this purpose, in sufficient 
time for turnips to be sown the same year. When the 
land is to be prepared for a wheat crop it is sometimes 
customary to plough in the vetches as manure. The 
seeds afford a grateful food for pigeons. 
200. PEAS (Pisum sativum) are a kind of seeds too well 
known to need any description. 
There are several kinds of peas, some of which are 
cultivated in gardens, and others in fields. The former 
are principally used for culinary purposes. In the early 
part of the year, gardeners in the neighbourhood of 
London raise them on hot-beds. The kind they select 
for this purpose are the dwarf peas. These are sown 
about the middle of October in warm borders ; and 
afterwards, towards the end of January, they are re- 
moved into the hot-beds. The inducement, of course, 
is the enormous prices that are paid for the earliest peas 
brought into the market. The podding or picking of 
freen peas for the London market is also a valuable 
ranch of the business of some farms within a few 
miles of the metropolis. Many attempts have been 
made to preserve green peas for use in winter ; one of 
