252 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
“I have raised some new varieties of Peas. In 1820 I 
crossed the Prolific Blue with pollen of a dwarf Pea, and ob¬ 
tained three pods of seeds. On opening them I found that the 
colour, instead of being a deep blue like the parent, was a 
yellowish-white like the male. These white seeds produced 
some pods with all blue, and some with white seeds and 
some with both colours mixed.” I can find no record as to 
when these Peas were sent out, or if sent out, by what names. 
It is therefore quite certain that we are indebted to Mr. 
Thomas Andrew Knight, President of the Boyal Horticultural 
Society, for the introduction of the Wrinkled Pea, and that he ob¬ 
tained them by crossing some of the round White and Grey sorts. 
From their remarkable wrinkled appearance, together with the 
peculiar sweetness they possess, Knight’s Marrow Peas may be 
said to have originated a distinct class of Garden Peas, possessing 
qualities which, together with their general productiveness, 
rendered them a valuable acquisition both to cultivators and 
consumers. Knight’s Peas were therefore the origin of the 
numerous family of Wrinkled Peas that have succeeded them, 
both dwarf and tall, early and late. 
It now remains to follow the development of the Wrinkled 
Pea after Mr. Knight’s introductions. I have failed to discover 
when these Peas were first introduced to commerce, and the 
earliest mention of them I have been able to trace is in Page’s 
“ Prodromus,” 1817, which gives the names of twenty-three 
varieties of Garden Peas, among them Tall Marrowfat White, 
Tall Marrowfat Green, and Tall Knight’s Marrowfat; but no 
clue is given to the colour of the seeds. They were also offered 
by Messrs. Richard Gregory & Son, of Cirencester, in the year 
1818. 
Henry Miller, in “ The History of Cultivated Vegetables, 
1822,” says :—“ The principal kinds of Peas are Early Frame, 
Early Charlton, Dwarf Imperial, Dwarf Spanish, Blue Prussian, 
White Prussian, Sugar Peas, White Rounceval, Rose Crowned, 
Knight’s Superb,” but here again it is not stated if it is tall or 
dwarf, white or blue seeded. 
I think we may assume as certain that Mr. Knight, in his 
experiments, found both Tall and Dwarf Peas in the same pods, 
and that these gradually became known to gardeners and Pea 
growers, and were generally quoted in seedsmen’s catalogues 
about 1820* 
