PE. TALI. Wild, uncultivated ; a devil.
PEA, Pisum arvense, P. sativum.
The pea is grown as a vegetable throughout all the southern and eastern parts of Asia, wherever Europeans reside. It is a well-known leguminous plant, of which two species are commonly distin guished in Britain,—the grey field-pea, and the white or yellow pea. Of these two species there are many varieties. The large white, green, and brown are the common pea in the Dekhan ; the latter sort are boiled, and eaten often in the shell. Peas may be sown there in the beginning of June, and continued at pleasure until February. In sow ing, they should not be too thin, or placed deeper in drills than two inches, and a space of three feet between the rows ; the first crop in double rows, with a space of a foot between. When they are ready to climb, earth up both sides well, leaving room for the water to ruu in the middle. Then place good strong sticks in the centre of the rows, and on the outer side of each lay good old manure, after which little trouble is required. Keeping them free from weeds is of course essential ; and to preserve the seed, take care and remove any of the plants that appear of a different kind when in blossom ; also draw out all the thin and bad looking plants, to prevent the pollen impregnating the good, and if this seed be the produce of the rain-crop, if sown again in the cold weather they will be much finer and last longer than the seeds of the former season. For late crops, put down
in single rows, and in lines from east to west ; this enables the sun to act upon the whole, and tends to prevent mildew from damp on the stalks. In growing that you do not intend to stick, it is advisable to put brushwood on one side for them to creep over, and prevent much loss in seed froM damp and otherwise. The kinds that grow best at Madras are the Bangalore and Cape seed, sown in drills after the heavy rains are over. The best manure for this vegetable is street sweepings and wood ashes.
The country pea of British India is sown after the rains in drills, and varies in price according to the quality ; when green they are tolerable as a vegetable, but are best in soup. . Procurable in Deceinlier and January.
The Japan pea has been introduced into the United States, and returns 200 and 300 per cent.
In chemical composition the P. sativum of India has moisture, 12.65 ; nitrogenous matter, ; starchy matter, 60.28 ; fatty or oily matter, 1.61 ; and mineral constituents, 2.41.
The chick-pea, or Bengal gram of India, is the Cicer arietinum, the pigeon-pea is the Cajanus Indicus, and the pea-nut is the Araahis hypogea. —Agricultural Report for 1854 fran Cothmissioners of Patents to House of Assembly ; Faulkner ; Riddell ;