NEW YORK EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 343 



bean is self-fertile, and therefore no pains is necessary to insure pollina- 

 tion, as in the case of tomatoes, and some other in-door crops. The house 

 may be kept moist by sprinkling the walks on bright days. 



The essentials of a forcing bean are compact and rapid growth, earli- 

 ness, productiveness and long, straight and symmetrical pods. The Sion 

 House answers these requirements the best of any variety which we have 

 yet tried. The cut shows with exactness an average bench of Sion House. 

 English growers recommend the Green Flageolet, and we have had good 

 success with it; but it is about a week later than Sion House, and it pos- 

 sesses no points of superiority. German Wax {Dwarf German Black 

 Wax), forces well, but the pods are too short and too crooked. It is also 

 particularly liable to the attacks of the pod fungus. Newtown (Pride of 

 Newtown), is too large and straggling in growth. We are experimenting 

 with other varieties, including pole beans, but we are not yet ready to 

 report upon them. 



For market the beans are sorted, and tied in bunches of 50 pods, 

 these bunches bringing varying prices, but from 25 to 50 cents may be 

 considered an average. At these figures, with a good demand, forced 

 beans pay well. The enemies are few, red spider being one of the worst, 

 and this is kept in check by maintaining a moist atmosphere. Only three 

 or four pickings of beans can be made profitably from one crop. Much 

 of the success of bean forcing, as of all other winter gardening, consists in 

 having new plants ready to take the place of the old ones. As soon as the 

 old plants are removed, fork up the beds, add a liberal quantity of strong, 

 short manure, and replant immediately. 



NOTES UPON METHODS OF HERBACEOUS GRAFTING. 



My attention has been called a number of times to the unsatisfactory 

 records and directions concerning the grafting of herbaceous plants. 

 There appears to have been very little attention given to the subject, and 

 the scant discussions of it are mostly copied from one author to another. 

 A few years ago I made some attempts at herbaceous grafting, but it was 

 not until last winter that experiments were seriously undertaken. The 

 work was put in the hands of J. R. Lochaky as a subject for a graduating 

 thesis. 



The experiments were undertaken primarily for the purpose of learning 

 1he best methods of grafting herbs, but a secondary and more important 

 object was the study of the reciprocal influences of stock and scion, 

 particularly in relation to variegation and coloration. This second feature 

 of the work is still under way, in one form or another, and we hope for 

 definite results in a few years. As a matter of immediate advantage, how- 

 ever, herbaceous grafting has its uses, particularly in securing different 

 kinds of foliage and flowers upon the same plant. There is no difficulty 

 in growing a half dozen kinds or colors, on geraniums, chrysanthemums, 

 or other plants from one stock of the respective species. 



Six hundred grafts were made in our trials last winter. It was found 

 that the wood must be somewhat hardened to secure best results. The 

 very soft and flabby shoots are likely to be injured in the operation of 



