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Productiveness. — A productive variety is one that has the power 

 of producing a good crop under ordinary conditions. Varieties 

 differ greatly in this respect. There is a difference also among 

 varieties that are generally regarded as productive. With some, 

 more especially among the field sorts, we can apply the term 

 certainty of production; that is, they have the power to produce a 

 good crop under conditions more or less unfavorable — -wet or dry 

 weather, cool or hot weather, sandy or clay soil, good or poor cul- 

 ture. 



Season. — The season or time of maturity of varieties of beans 

 varies greatly. It should be remembered that comparisons are al- 

 ways made with varieties of the same class — whether dwarf or 

 climbing. The dwarf varieties are very much earlier than the pole 

 sorts. The term early as applied to a variety of pole beans means 

 that it is earlier than the average of that class. Six terms, very early, 

 early, midscason, late, very late, and extremely late are used to 

 describe the season. As the date of maturity is seriously affected 

 by the source of the seed, and as the plants from which the present 

 observations were made were grown from seed secured in various 

 sections of the United States and Canada, it is not safe to place 

 much dependence upon these observations in regard to season. 



Appearance. — A good appearance in a variety is largely a matter 

 of taste or fancy of the individual or the market. The chief char- 

 acters that contribute to appearance are the following: well-filled 

 pods, without vacancies ; no depressions on either the dorsal or 

 ventral sutures ; straight, or at least never extremely bent, twisted 

 or curved pods; uniformity in color and shape; smooth surface 

 and free from scars or other blemishes. Davis Wax exemplifies 

 a good color for a wax pod, Longfellow for a green pod, and 

 Crimson Beauty for a splashed green-shell pod. Davis Wax is a 

 good example of straightness and flatness, Longfellow of round- 

 ness, and Hodson Wax or Yosemite of extremely large size. 



Quality. — The term quality as applied to beans used for snaps 

 refers more to the texture of the pod than to the flavor. There is, 

 however, a decided diff'erence among varieties with regard to the 

 latter character. The texture of a snap bean is dependent upon 

 the amount, or rather the strength, of string along the sutures, the 

 amount of fiber in the walls, and the size of the cells (the " grain "). 

 To reach the highest degree of quality, then, a variety must be 

 stringless, fiberless, fine-grained, and of a rich, " buttery " flavor. 

 These characters are frequently correlated, but it is not an unfre- 



