22 AMERICAN VARIETIES OF GARDEN BEANS. 



StraigJitness of pod point (straight, slightly curved, moderately- 

 curved, much curved, twisted, etc.). — The shape of pod points is often 

 an indication of stringiness. Pod points which are twisted, irregu- 

 larly curved, blunt at the end, or depressed at their juncture with the 

 pod indicate very little or no string, while pod points which are regu- 

 larly tapering and stiff indicate a more or less strong string. 



Size of pod clusters. — Under uniformly favorable conditions the size 

 'of pod clusters is a helpful and reliable aid to the identification of vari- 

 eties; but, as the Department trials have not usually been perfect 

 enough to develop this character, no reference is generally made to it 

 in the following descriptions. Barteldes's Bush Lima, Tennessee 

 Green Pod, Wonder of France, and Burpee's Stringless Green Pod are 

 examples of varieties bearing a large number of pods to the cluster. 



Position of pod clusters (well below foliage, mostly below foliage, 

 equally above and below foliage, mostly above foliage, well above foli- 

 age). — Quite a number of European sorts, as well as a few domestic 

 kinds, such as Lightning, have numerous, thick, strong-stemmed 

 clusters, bearing nearly all their pods well above the plant; other 

 varieties, mostly of the slender, running type, like Refugee, bear nearly 

 all their pods well under the foliage. 



Color of greeu shell pods. — Most green-colored pods gradually lose 

 their original green color and become almost as faded and yellow at the 

 green-shell stage as are the wax sorts at this stage. For this reason 

 the color of pods at the green-shell stage is not useful in identifying 

 and describing varieties unless splashing or tingeing appears or some 

 change occurs other than the usual fading of the pod. This splashing 

 or tingeing, whenever it does appear, is generally some shade of purple 

 or red and usually indicates splashed or colored seed. 



Depressions between seeds (much depressed, moderately depressed, 

 slightly depressed, full). — Tennessee Green Pod and most other vari- 

 eties with seeds very much separated in the pod have their pod walls 

 much depressed or sunken between the seeds; others, like Yosemite 

 Wax and Stringless Green Pod, are so sharply constricted between the 

 seeds that their pods appear as though they had been drawn tight by 

 a thread and separated into sections; while still other varieties, like 

 Refugee and certain round-podded sorts, are full or only slightly 

 depressed between the seeds. 



Length in inches of green shell piods. — The measurements given in 

 the following descriptions are those of average-sized pods from well- 

 grown plants. Exceptionally large pods may be one-third longer 

 than the lengths named and unusually poor pods but two-thirds of 

 these lengths. 



Number of seeds in green shell pods. — Six is the usual number of 

 seeds for most varieties and conditions, ten being the largest ever 

 found in pods of bush beans at Washington, D. C. If plants be well 



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