534 
P 1 S U - M. 
Blue. 5. The large Grey. 6. The fmall Grey. 7. The 
Speckled. 8. The large Dutch. 9. The Dun. 
The common white pea will do belt on light Tandy 
land, or on a rich loofe foil. The ufual method of 
lowing thefe peafe is with a broad-cad, and To harrow 
them in ; but it is a much better way to Tow them in 
drills about three feet afunder; for lefs than half the 
quantity of feed will do for an acre, and the ground 
may be hoed, both to dedroy the weeds and earth up 
the peafe. The ufual time for fowing thefe peafe is the 
middle of March or the beginning of April, on warm 
land ; but on cold ground they fliould be (own a fort¬ 
night or three weeks later. In the common way of 
fowing they allow three bulhels or more to an acre; but, 
if they are drilled, one bufhel and a half will be full 
enough. 
The green and maple rouncivals require a dronger 
foil than the white, and diould be Town a little later in 
the fpring; the drills alfo fliould be at a greater didance, 
as two feet and a half or three feet, for this fort is apt to 
grow rank, efpecially in a wet feafon. The ground 
between the rows fliould be hoed two or three times. 
The forty-day, or the Charlton pea, fltould be Town 
early in March ; and, if turnips are intended, not later 
than that month : late-fown crops are fubjeft to the 
green fly or dolphin ; and, to avoid that, it is recommended 
to fow in February. If peafe are not intended as a pre¬ 
paration for turnips, many fow before Chridmas ; but 
this mud be on dry land, and in a dry time; for, if they 
are Town after rain or fnow, the crop will fuft’er. 
Grey peafe will bear being Town in autumn, and it is a 
common practice in Hertfordfliire to begin pea-fowing as 
foon as the wheat-feed is over. The peafe which are 
Town in autumn or before Chridmas, are late forts, and 
therefore are not proper where the crop is to be harveded 
time enough for turnips. They thrive bed on a drong 
clayey land ; and are commonly Town under furrow; but 
by this method they are always too thick, and do not 
come up regularly; they therefore diould alfo be Town in 
drills. Being much hardierthan theformer forts,thefemay 
be fown towards the end of February. The bed method 
to fow thefe peafe is to draw a drill with a hoe by a line 
two inches deep, and having fcattered the feeds in it, to 
draw the earth over them with a rake. This is a quick 
method for gardens; but, wdiere they are fown in fields, 
they commonly make a fliallow furrow' with the plough, 
and harrow in the feeds. Where labour is dear, it 
is a great expenfe to weed and earth up the plants by 
liand-hoeing; but it may be eafily effefled by a horfe- 
hoe, which will not only kill the weeds, but, by dirring 
the foil, render it mellow, greatly promote the growth or 
the plants, and render the ground fitter to receive another 
crop the following feafon. 
Peafe, when rear ripe, are very apt to be devoured by 
rooks, pigeons, &c. they fliould therefore be well watched, 
They are generally cut with a tool called a pnajemake. 
which, is half an old fcythe fixed in a handle, w ith wdiich 
they are rolled as they are cut into fmall bundles called 
tcads, in other places wifps. Thefe thould be fmall to 
dry well, and fliould lie out fome days to wither. In 
fpme counties they are reaped with a hook. They are 
fometimes mown, but it is a very bad practice. 
Of all crops this is the mod uncertain, and it is rarely 
confiderable, two quarters and a half an acre are about 
the average produce; now and then four, four and a half, 
and five, quarters are gained, but probably not one year 
in ten. The greatefl burdens of draw, in crops that per- 
feffly cover the ground, do not yield a very large pro¬ 
duce. If a man fliades his land well, and gets two and a 
half or three quarters on an acre, he has reafon to be fa- 
tisfied with the produce. 
The principal application of peafe is for fattening hogs. 
No other grain agrees better with them, efpecially when 
they are harveded dry and ground into meal. Bread 
made of this meal was formerly much in ufe in fome parts 
of Scotland, but of late it is faid to have been almod 
wholly given up. It is reported to be mixed with wheat- 
flour by the millers, when peafe are reafonable. The 
draw', if well harveded, is a very confiderable objeft for 
fodder; it is little inferior to ordinary hay, and all forts 
of cattle thrive well on it; but it is apt to gripe fome 
horfes, if given too foon. It fliould not be ufed before 
January ; and, if it is found to have this effeft, a few 
turnips, cabbages, carrots, or potatoes, will correft it. 
The following varieties are commonly cultivated by 
Kentifh farmers, viz. The Reading and Leadman’s 
dw'arfs ; the grey polt; nutmeg grey; the early dun, in 
Ead Kent called Sutton's grey ; and Shepherd’s grey : all 
which are for fattening hogs. Befides thefe, many others 
are cultivated for j'upplying the London feedfmen. All 
are drilled in row’s, about eighteen inches apart, from the 
middle of February to the end of March, and fometimes' 
later. They are hand and horfe hoed, and are harveded 
from the middle of July to the end of September. They 
are reaped with a hook, called a podware-hoolt. The pro¬ 
duce is from one and a half to five quarters on an acre. 
Culture in MiddleJ'ex .—About three thoufand acres are 
annually cropped with peafe in this county; they are 
much on the increafe, and are cultivated in the mod 
clean and garden-like manner. On upwards of two 
thoufand acres they fucceed a clean crop of beans; in 
which cafe, the bean-dubble is ploughed up with a thin 
furrow about January, and during every dry time till 
March, and foon afterwards re-ploughed a full depth. 
The water-furrows are kept open, and the land remains 
in this date till feed-time. Peafe fown with an intention 
of being fent to market green, fucceed clover, corn, or 
any other crop. In EiTex they frequently follow pota¬ 
toes. As long as the land is cleared and properly pre¬ 
pared, which will generally be accomplilhed by the 
middle of November, white hotfpur-peafe are planted for 
podding for the London market. The land is generally 
a dry loamy fand, and manure is condantly ploughed in 
during January and February; after which it is harrowed, 
and is then fit for the reception of the feed, which is put 
into drills fifteen inches apart, modly made acrofs, but 
occafionally along the ridges; and the feed is covered in 
with the hoe. Some perfons bufli-harrow the whole. 
The quantity of feed fown is generally about three bufti- 
els an acre. Such as are intended for podding, are put 
into the ground every week or fortnight, during the 
months of January, February, and March, for a regular 
fuccefiion of crops to fupply the market daily. Grey 
peafe are fown during the whole of March. The intervals 
between the rows are twice hand-hoed, once wdien the 
plants are about three inches high, and again a fliorttime 
before they are in bloflom. The row's are laid down and 
well earthed up by the lad hoeing, and they are carefully 
weeded by hand. 
Againlt the podding-feafon, poor people from every 
part of London apply to the farmers who have early 
peafe. Many of the richer fort fell their peafe by the 
acre to perfons who employ the podders, and who gather 
by the lack of four bulhels. About forty podders are 
let to ten acres. Carts are loaded and fent oft’ fo as to 
be delivered to the falefmen at market from three to five 
o’clock in the morning. The peafe are ufually picked 
twice over; after which, if from a fcarcity of hands any 
be left for feed, it is efteemed a lofs. When hands are 
in plenty, the crop is picked clean, the haulm is cut up 
with hooks, removed on to every fifth ridge, or into a 
grafis field to dry : it is then put into Hacks for horfe- 
teed, and the land is prepared as fpeedily as poflible for 
turnips. The podders are paid for the marrowfats and 
other larger peale about is. and for thefmaller i6d. or i8d. 
per lack. They are fold in the market at from 5s. to 17s. 
per fack : fo that this crop may be expefted to return 
from 5I. to upwards of 20I. per acre. 
2 
The 
