84 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
and the white ones, together with the Navy, for the ripe 
seed. The Limas are perhaps the best of all for shell, 
Burpee as dwarf and Dreer as climber. 
The varieties of Phaseolus lunatus, Dolichos Lablab, 
Vigna Catjang, Glycine hispida and Vicia Faba are 
employed only as shell or ripe beans, Phaseolus vulgaris 
and P. multiflorus as either snap, shell or ripe, and Doli- 
chos sesquipedalis only as a snap. As arule only white 
beans are used in the ripe state in the United States, the 
color of others being objectionable, and probably more of 
the Navy variety are thus consumed than any other, especially 
in this country. In Mexico, the brownish colored varieties 
are most commonly cultivated. 
Beans form one of the leading canning products, large 
quantities of them being annually produced for this purpose 
in all parts of the country. They are cooked and served 
in a great variety of ways. The string beans are commonly 
served in thickened milk after having been boiled in water 
and seasoned with pepper and salt. They are often pickled 
along with cauliflower, cucumbers and other vegetables, or 
preserved in brine, and when wanted are soaked in water 
for some time before cooking. Shell beans are treated ina 
similar manner. The ripe seed is boiled and baked after 
having been soaked in water for an hour or more, the 
exact method varying with different tastes. In Mexico, 
where ‘ Frijoles ’’ form a part of almost every meal, they 
are usually prepared by first boiling until tender and then 
frying in lard, usually until reduced either wholly or in 
large part to a paste, which is commonly of a chocolate 
color, sometimes shaded with violet, owing to the color of 
the seeds thus employed. 
Beans are quite extensively cultivated in all parts of the 
world where there are at least three or four months of the 
year free from frost. Santa Barbara and Ventura counties 
in California produce by far the largest quantity of Lima 
beans of any similar area in the world, upwards of 2,000 
