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Show 328 CULINARY PLANTS. CIIAJ.>. IX. the pod is bowed upwards. ln the Queen of the lJwa1j:~ and in Sc'im'ita1· 7H>rts the pod is almost elliptic in shape. I here give drawings of the four most distinct pods produced by the plants cultivated by me. I. JJ. Ill. JV. Jilg. 41.- I'ods and Peas. J. Queen of Dwarfs. H. American Dwarf. J ll. Thurston's Reliance. JV. l'ois Gcant sans parcllcmin. a. Dan O'llourkc Pea. b. Queen of Dwarlil !'ca. c. Kuight'ti Tall White Marrow. d. Lewis's Negro l>ca. In the pea itself we have every tint between almost pure white, brown, yellow, and intense green; in tho varieties of tho Sit gar· peas we have these same tints, together with red passing tbl'ough fino purple into a dark cl1ocolato tint. 'l'hcse colours are either uniform or distributed in dots, striro, or moss-like marks; they depend in some cases on the colour of the cotyledons seen tlll'ough the skin, and in other cases on tho outer coats of the pea itself. In the different varieties the pods contain, according to Mr. Gordon, ii·om cloven or twelve to only four or fi.vc peas. The largest peas m·c nearly twice as much in diameter as the smallest; and tho latter arc not always borne by the most dwarfed kinds. Peas differ much in CIIAI'. IX. PEAS. 32!) shape, being smooth and spherical, smooth and oblong, nearly oval in the Queen of Dwarfs, and nearly cubical and crumpled in many of tho larger kinds. With respect to the value of the differences between tho chief varieties, it cannot bo doubted that, if one of the tall Sugar-peas, with purple flowers, thin-slcinncd pods of an extraordinary shape, including large, da~kpurplc peas, grew wild by the side of tho lowly Queen qf the Dwmfs, "W_Ith white flowers, greyish-green, rounded leaves, scimitar-like pods, con~a.imng oblong, smooth, pale-coloured peas, which became matmc at a diflcrent. season; or by tho side of one of the gigantic sorts, like the Champion oJ f!,'ngland, with leaves of great size, pointed pods, and large, green, crumpled, almost cubical peas,-all three kinds would be ranked as indisputably distinct species. Andrew Knight 82 has observed that the varieties of peas keep very . true, because they are not crossed by insects. As far as tho fact of keeping true is concerned, I bear from Mr. Masters of Canterbury, well Jmown as the originator of several new kinds, that certain varieties have remained constant for a considerable time,-for instance, Kni_qht's l.Jlue Dwarf, which came out about tho year 1820.88 But the greater number of varieties have a singularly short existence : thus Loudon remarks 84 that " sorts which wore highly approved in 1821, aro now, in 1833, nowhere to bo found;" and on comparing the lists of 1833 with those of 1855, I find that nearly all tho varieties have changed. Mr. Masters informs me that the natmo of the soil causes some varieties to lose their character. As with other plants, certain varieties can be propagated truly, whilst others show a determined tenden~y to vary ; thus two peas differing in shape, one round and the other wrinkled, were found by Mr. Masters within the same pod, but the plants raised from the wrinkled kind always evinced a strong tendency to produce round peas. Mr. Masters also raised n·om a plant of another variety fom distinct sub-varieties, which bore blue and round, white and round, blue and wrinkled, ancl white and wrinkled peas; und although ho sowed these fom varieties separately during several successive years, each kind always reproduced all fom kinds mixed together! With respect to the varieties not natmally intercrossing, I have ascertained that tho pea, which in this respect clifi'ers from some other Leguminosro, is perfectly fertile without tho aid of insects. Yet I have seen humble-bees whilst suclcing the nectar depress the keel-petals, and become so thickly dusted with pollen, that some could hardly fail to be left on tho stigma of tho next flower which was visited. I have made inquiries from several great raisers of seed-peas, and I find that but few sow them separately; the majority take no precaution; and it is certain, as I bavo myself found, that true seed may be saved dming at least several goncmtions from distinct varieties growing close togethor.85 Under those circumstances, Mr. Fitch mised, as he informs me, one variety for twenty R2 'Phil. Tr11nsnct.,' 17!}9, p. Hl6. 83 'Gardener's Magazine,' vol. i., 182U, p. 153. R4 'Eueycloplmlia of Gardening,' p. 823. s:; See Dr. Anderson to tho same effect in tho 'Bath Soc. Agricultural Paper:;,' vol. iv. p. 7. |