142 Agricultural Experiment Station^ Ithaca, N. Y. 



described two species of the garden kidney bean, PJiaseolus (pro- 

 nounced Fase-o-his) mdgaris-, the pole bean, and Phaseolus nanus, 

 the bush bean. It is now generally agreed that these two forms 

 are horticultural modifications of one original type. But which 

 w^as the original forjn, the twiner or the bush form ? If all the so- 

 called bush Limas are known to have come from twining plants, 

 there is, thereby, the strongest reason for supposing that the com- 

 mon bush beans originated from the twiners, a conclusion which is 

 also supported by much other evidence. 



The reader is now anxious to know just how these dwarf Lima 

 beans originated. They appeared in the same way that nearly all 

 new varieties of plants originate : they were found growing amongst 

 plants of common and well-known varieties. A single plant, a 

 "sport," was first observed in some cases, and in others several 

 original plants were discovered. The Kumerle or Thorburn Dwarf 

 Lima oi'iginated from occasional dwarf forms of the Challenger 

 Pole Lima which J. W. Kumerle, of Newark, 'New Jersey, found 

 growing in his field. The Henderson, as we have seen, was a 

 chance dwarf picked up in Yirginia. The Burpee came from a 

 single plant of the Large White Lima. Mr. Palmer, with whom 

 it originated, had his entire crop of Limas destroyed by cut-worms 

 in 1883. He went over his field to remove the poles before 

 fitting the land for other uses, but he found one little plant, 

 about ten inches high, which had been cut off about an inch 

 above the ground, but which had re-rooted. It bore three pods, 

 each containing one seed. These three seeds were planted in 

 1884, and two of the plants were dwarf, like the parent. By dis- 

 carding all plants which had a tendency to climb, in succeeding 

 crops, the Burpee Bush Lima, as we now have it, was developed. 



The singular Barteldes Bush Lima came from Colorado and is a 

 similar dwarf sport of the old White Spanish or Dutch Runner 

 bean. Barteldes received about a peck of the seed and introduced 

 it sparingly. It attracted very little attention, and as the following 

 season was dry, Barteldes himself failed to get a crop, and the 

 variety was lost to the trade. Just why these bush forms should 

 appear in these instances, we must ask mother nature, and it is 

 possible that she will never be persuaded to give an explicit reply. 

 We hear much about the scientific origination of varieties, but as a 

 matter of fact, the science of the horticulturist is exercised much 



