Note 68 — PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 3)

The Dutch and Germans who live hereabouts, sow pease in great abundance; they succeed very well, and are annually carried to New York, in great quantities. They have been free from insects for a considerable time. But of late years the same beetles which destroy the pease in Pensylvania, New Jersey, and the lower parts of the province of New York68, have likewise appeared abundant among the pease here. It is a real loss to this town, and to the other parts of North America, which used to get pease from hence for their own consumption, and that of their sailors. It had been found that if they procured good pease from Albany, and sowed them near King’s Town, or the lower part of the province of New York, they succeeded very well the first year, but were so full of worms the second, and following years, that nobody could or would eat them. Some people put ashes into the pot, among the pease, when they will not boil, or soften well; but whether this is wholesome and agreeable to the palate, I do not know.