Vol XI. No. 274 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



347 



SOME WELL-KNOWN EDIBLE BEANS. 



About the middle of last year, the Imperial Institute 

 received from Hong Kong samples, for examination, of seeds 

 of various kinds, and there were included among them some 

 edible beans that are well known in the West Indies. An 

 account of the examination was given in the Bullet in of th'^ 

 Imp'-rial lyisfitnte for July 1912, p. 235, and this is used in 

 presenting the following facts 



I'OLKiios LABLAB. This is known in the West Indies as 

 the bonavist or yam bean (another plant called yam bean is 

 Pachinhi-us tuderosus). In the instance- -under report, the 

 beans are imported into Hong Kong from Chekiang; those in 

 the sample measured H by 1 by 1 cm , and possessed a hard, 

 woody, pale, straw-coloured seed coat, while the inside of the 

 beans was hard, of a similar colour, and hid a compact waxy 

 appearance. 



The following table is reproduced frt)m the article; it 

 compares the beans with Lablab beans from India: — 



Iteports on the beans by two firms of merchants in 

 London were not good. It was stated by one firm that 

 their appearance was unfavourable and that the results 

 of the analysis do not indicate that tliey possessed any 

 special quality for feeding purposEs; in order to be sold in 

 London, they would have to be offered at a price much below 

 that of Rangoon beans— £6 to £7 c.i f. in March 1912. 



\IGXA cAT.iAXG. This is the plant usually called 

 cowpea. The seeds in the S'^mp'e were said to be imported 

 into Hong Kong from Quinhon, Annam; they measured 

 about 1 by | by J cm. and had a thin, cream-coloured, 

 tightly-adhering seed coat, while internally they possessed the 

 same colour and were hard. In the fojlowing table, the 

 composition of the seeds is cc>mpared with the same bean 

 from India: — • 



Moisture 

 I'rude proteins 



True protein 



Other nitrogenous") 



Beans from 



Hong Kong. 



Per cent. 



11 65 



2205 



20.38 



Indian Catjang 

 l>eans. 

 Per cent. 

 127 

 23 1 



substances 

 Fat 



Starch, etc. 

 Fibre 

 Ash 



Nutrient ratio* 

 Food unitst 



/ 



1-67 



1-23 



.57 99 



3-83 



3 25 



1:2-75 



116-2 <^ 



1-1 



.55-3 



4-2 



3-6 



1:2-5 



115-8 



Merchants who examined the sample stated that there 

 is a small sale for the beans in the I'nited Kingdom at 

 £8 per ton (Octobe* 1911). 



I'HASEOLUs MCJNGO. The common name for this plant 

 in the West Indies is woolly pyrol Three samples are 

 described — the first and third from Xewchwang and 

 the second from the West River. Kwantung Province. 

 The first beans were about I cm. long and slightly 

 less in width and thickness, and the second the same in 

 length and about i-inch in width and thickness; while the 

 third were smaller, being about J-cm. in diameter and nearly 

 round; the colour of the first two kinds was kidney-red to 

 browni.sh purple and light reddish brown to purplish brown, 

 while internally they were all hard, whitish and wax-like. 

 The value, i-.i.f. United Kingdom ports (October 1911), was 

 given as £6 12*. 6(/. per ton for the first two samples, and 

 £') 15s. for the third. 



A table is reproduced here, which compares the beans 

 from Kwantung (the second sample) with Indian 'mung" 

 beuns: — 



Beans from 



Hong Kong. 



Per cent. 



Indian 'mung' 

 beans. 

 Per cent. 

 101 to 11-4 

 22-2 „ 238 



Moisture 11 8S 



Crude proteins 19 98 



True proteins 18 04 



Other nitrogenous") , „ . 



substances j 



Fat 75 2 „ 2-7 



Starch, etc. 53-96 54-1 „ 55-8 



Fibre 476 4 2 „ 5-8 



Ash 3-67 3-8 „ 4-4 



Nutrient ratio* 1: 3 03 1:25 „ 1:27 



Food unitst 110 8 1163 ,,119-3 



The article from which this infomvition is abstracted 

 concludes as follows : — 



'In the cases of all the prices quoted in the preceding- 

 paragraphs the merchants pointed out that the current prices- 

 fur beans in the United Kingdom were exceptionally high, 

 anil that the various samples would probal)ly fetch less in an 

 average year. 



'Samples of all these beans have been placed on exhibi- 

 tion in the Hong Kong Court in the Public P^xhibition 

 Galleries of the Imperial Institute.' 



Rainfall in St. Kitts and Nevis.— A. communica- 

 tion from Mr. Y. R. Shepherd, Agricultural Superintendent, 

 St. Kitts, dated October 8, 1912, de.scribes the improved 

 conditions regarding rainfall that have taken place recently 

 in St. Kitts and Nevis. ( )n the 6th and 7th of the month, 

 good rains fell in both islands. In the Basseterre district of 

 St. Kitts, the fall was about 5 inches; and in the southern 

 district, from 6 to 7 inches. At Cane Garden estate in Nevis 

 3 25 inches was received, and in the lowland district to the 

 south the precipitation was 2-69 inches. Some damage wa? 

 done to roads, in St. Kitts, but none te crops; on the other 

 hand, the benefit brought to the cane crop is incalculable. 

 Mr. Shepherd states that the cotton crop in Nevis should 

 now be almost assured, as the prospects were fair, even 

 before the rain, 



■*The rutic between the percentage of crude proteins and 

 the sum of the percentages of suiich and fat, the latter 

 being converted first into its stdrcli eijuivalent by multiplyini' 

 by 2-3. 



t The totJil obtained by .vlding the p»rcent.ige of starctt- 

 to 2-5 times the sura of the percei\t»ge of fat and crude proteins. 



