Extension Circular 76
June, 1944
Roguing Field Peas
Agricultural Extension Service
The State College of Washington
PULLMAN, WASHINGTON
Darrell G. \Vells and I. M.: Ingham1
INTRODUCTION
Rogues in fi eld peas present a seriou s problem to the producer and the
proce ssor. Both of these agencies have voiced g r owing concern over the
presence of varietal mixtures and off -type plants in the greatly increased
acre a ge devoted to field pea s.
A·s commonly u sed, the term "rogue" ·refers to any plant n ot conformin g
to the type of th e variety in which it occurs. Ro g uin g refer s t o the removal
of these plants by hand pulling .
ORIGIN OF ROGUES
Rogues may originate in peas as the result of mechanical mixture, vo lunteer growth, natural cros sin g , o r as changes in form due t o unexplain ed alterations of the ger m pla sm. Obviously, the only really seriou s rogues originatin g from mechanical o r volunteer mix tures are th ose of another variety of
different seed color o r maturity. Examp les would be mixtures of whiteseeded First and Best or dark - seeded Austrian Winter in the g reen- seeded
Alaska variety, or mixtures o f Alaska or Austrian Winter in First and Be st.
These mixtures lower the quality of the seed produced and are of mo s t
concern to the processors. Mixtures can be avoided by us e of clean equipment, clean sacks, and care in storage of seed, and by n o t sowi n g peas on
land that had peas of another variety on it the previous season.
Natural cross pollinati o ns between yellow and g reen seeded varietie s
occurring as a mixture, or growing in adjacent fields, give rise to off-type
plants in the following generatio n. It is not known how serious natural
crossing is in the Palouse country, but it is a factor growers must consider
if pure seed stocks are to be maintained and high quality dry peas produced.
Peas a re more unstable in thei r inheritance than wheat and it is common
for r ogu es to originate as the result of changes in the germ plasm. Ro g ues
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Assistant i~ Farm Crops, Agricultural Experil;nent Stations, and Extension Agronomist,
respec!lvely.
of th is nature are commonly call ed " late rogues. " Th ey are appare ntly more
nume r ous in ea rly va ri eties like A laska tha n in lat e varie ties. Th ey exhibit
a w ide ra n g e of mat urity a nd indeterminaten ess of growth . S ome are earlier
an d less v igorous th a n n orm al A la ska plan t s, but m os t of them are much
later and m o re rank in g rowth. Such r ogu es as these u sually bear more seed
than norma l plant s and in time can become a majo r fraction of the seed stock
t:nless the grcwe r is vi g ilant.
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ee d fr o m normal a nd ro g ue plan ts, b ecause of much similarity, is ge ner ally insepa rable when r:1i xe d. Thus, the g rower cannot hope to remove
bt e r ogues from his seed s t o ck by hand picking the seed.
Late r ogues in them sel ves do n ot impair the quality of the pea crop.
It is bec ::-.u se of late Dowe r ing that they are seri ou s; the pea weevil then has
a n opportunity fo r in festation afte r the bulk of the crop has flo we r ed and
been dusted. Also, they are late r in maturity and if present in sufficient
numbers nny delay ~he h a rvest ing of the crop. This delay allows mo re opportunity for shatterin g of the dry peas on other vines.
Lacl- of uniform ity in g r ower s' seed stocl{s-i.e., late r ogues-usu all y
can be acounted for by impurity of the ori g inal seed stocks and by failure
to establi s h pu re I!nes. Impure seed st ocks cannot be recommended fo r
· r oguin g a d sh ould b e d =scarded, for the most efficient rouging can b e ex p ected o nly t o hold t he pe r centa g e of ro g ues at a constan t level. It is possi ble t h a t na t ura l cr osses occur between n o rmal and rogue plants, partially
explainin g the im pos s ibility of develop in g a pure stock from an impure one,
s in ce r o g u in g u sually isn't done until both r ogues and normal p la nts have
been in fi o·w er.
USE OF PURE "LINES
Growe r s usually d o 1 o t have access to pure lin es for seed stocks. A pure
line is the incrca:::e fr c m a sin gl e plant and g enerally can be expected t o ·
r em a in r elat ively free of la te ro g ues a nd o ther varieties if g iven proper care.
A s eed in c r eas e s ys: em of pure lir:es of Alaska and First and Best, w h er eb y
they ·will b e mac 1e avai la ble to g r o \ve rs in the future, has been established
at the \:Vash in g to n Ag r icu itt: r a l Expe r im ent Station at Pullman. The supply
of pure lines bein g g r o \vn is no t yet large en o ugh for commercial distributi on.
O R GA '>JIZING A ROGUING CREW
Growers w h ose seed s t ocks are satisfactory may w is h to set off f o r
rogui ng an area of sufficient si ze t o pr ovide seed peas for their next year's
crop. If a g r ower's stock is n o t sa ti sfa cto ry fo r seed purposes, he may a ssis t
a nei ghbo r with r oguin g a good steed stock.
Scarcity of lab o r makes cooperative r oguin g of peas almost a necessity.
No t ever y lab o r er will b e a satisfacto ry member of a ro g uin g crew, however,
since the ability to detect sli g ht differences in plant characters is required.
A r oguin g crew can be arran g ed for work in this manner: Six men form
a line, each man being wit h in fin g ertip reach of the man on either side of
him. T wo other experienced men range back of this line to pick up any
r ogu es the se men fail to pull. Th e most experienced man ran ges in back of
th e entire g roup, advising them on what plants to pull and removing any
r ogues the y miss. The crew proceeds straight across the field, guided by
stakes set at intervals. Sometimes the men can see the r ogues better if they
w o rk with th e sun at their backs.
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Car e s ho u:d be taken in pulling ro g ues to be certain that the entire plant
is remoYed. les t some p o ds re mai n on a segm ent of a v ine. All vines pulled
by the men should be carrie d off the field and destroyed in some manner.
-IDENTIFYING ROGUES
For use in ha :-: cl p ick ing s eed :
D isca rd seed wi t h . the se characteris t ics:
\ V h ite p eas \Vit h orange yc:llow cotyledons occurring in green p ea s,
or v ic e versJ.. ~ ~o rmally g re en seeds that have been bleached or that
have been ente r ed or st un g by weevils are usually similar to white
peas in appeara nce. Their cotyledons are lemon yellow in color,
often showin g traces of gree n. The weevil sting on a pea usually
can b e easily fo und . W hite peas often have greenish colored seed
coats and exam ination of the cotyledons is necessary to establish
their itlentity.
Dark, speck led, or mottled peas w ith yellow cotyledons occurring in
g reen o r wh ite seeded peas. Also, peas with dark hilums commonly
kn own as "b lack eyed" peas occurring in g reen or white seeded peas.
Reddish- g reen, smoo: h or d impled seed with yell ow cotyledons of
the variet y Amrao ti o ccu rr'n g in g r ee n o r white seed ed pea s.
Vhinkled green or white peas in smooth green or white peas.
Differences in si ze of seed sometimes identify rogues. Large-s eeded
white o r Gree n 1\!Iarrowfat mixed with Alaska or First and Best is
ea sily distinguishab le.For u se in r emo vi ng plants:
Pull plants wit h these cha racter isti cs:
Purp le - fk w e recl p la nts in a fi eld of wh ite-D ow ered A laska o r F ir st
and Best. Th ese plants a rc usu a lly of the Ya rieties Austrian Winter,
Kaiser, or Amraoti a r. J are a I ittle later than Alaska.
Late -fl owering whi tc-b lo ss cm ~d plants in a field of Alaska. These
a re ge nerally " late ro g ue" t ypes.
Long v ined plants Dowering at the lOth node to the 12th node
in stead of the 8t h or 9th node, a s is characteristic of norma l A laska
plants.
Long peduncles. These. are the s tem-like structures on which flowers
are borne. They are usually lon ge r than normal or late ro g ue plants.
Ti g ht, small pods usuall y characterize late-rogue plants:
TIME OF ROGUING
The time when ro g uing of field peas can be done best is probably after
th e period of full bl oom. At this time many of the late rogues and plants of
late varieties are still in flower and can be easily seen. However, r oguing
can be done when all plants have flowered, fo r many of the rogues can be
identified by their long vines and deeper green color as· compared with
normal plants.
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Ro g ues identified by a difference in fl owe r co lor are easiest t o find an d
can be removed from the growing crop wheneve r t h ey flow er, even tho ugh
o ther plants are in bloom.
A plant of the Alaska v ariety produce s b o th s m ooth and dimpl ed seed,
and separations · of either type from a seed st ock w·ill have n o effect on th e
seed fo rm of the progeny.
The strain s of First and Best comm o nl y grown apparently are mixtur es
of long and s hort v ine plant typ es . It is r ecommended that r oguin g of th ese
strain s be limited to the r em oval of seed and plants of other varieties pendin g
th e d evelopme nt of pure lines of this variety.
Published a nd distributed in furtherance of the
Acts of May 8 a nd J une 30, 1 914, by the State
College of Washington, Exte nsion Service, J. C.
Knott, Director, a nd th e U . S. D ept. of Agricul ture coope rating.
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