forty-fours

n. pl.
1. So. black-eyed peas.
1911 JAF (Oct.) 382: I looked on [the] table: "forty fo's" was out. 1929 Amer. Mercury (Aug.) 386: If I be camp cook in dugout kitchern, jes' like sling' slop and foty-fogs for shack-rouster in construction camp.
2. beans.
1919 Wilkins Company Fund 45: Company Expressions: Chow. Punk. Slum. Frog Eyes. Fourty fours [sic]. 1958 McCulloch Woods Words 132: Pass the 44's Pass the beans. Loggers graded beans according to size as 22's, 30-30's, 44's etc.

Lighter, J.E., Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang Volume I (A-G) "The Only Historical Dictionary of Slang, Spanning Three Hundred Years of Slang Use In America" New York, 1994, p 802.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle