INTRODUCTION. 



New York has been long considered the chief bean-growing state 

 of the Union. In 1899 there were 129,298 acres devoted to beans, 

 producing 1,360,445 bushels, or a total value of $2,472,668.^ While 

 a very large proportion of the total acreage is devoted to the 

 growing of field varieties, large areas are devoted to the growing 

 of the mo're tender garden sorts, either for seed or to supply 

 the market with " snaps " and " green-shelled " beans to be used 

 fresh or for canning. The public demand for northern grown 

 seed has led many seed dealers to contract annually with the 

 growers of New York and other northern states for large quanti- 

 ties of seed. 



In the Year Book for 1900 " it is stated that American seedsmen 

 catalogued the preceding year 560 real or nominal varieties of 

 bush beans and 255 of pole beans. Owing to the meager catalogue 

 descriptions, the grower who is anxious to secure the most suitable 

 variety for his purpose has little to guide him. If he is desirous 

 of trying some new variety, or improved form of an old one, he 

 is just as likely to select some old variety with a new name, or with 

 a few high-sounding descriptives attached to it, as a distinct new 

 sort. 



A seed catalogue is issued primarily for the purpose of selling 

 seed. If its mission were fulfilled in proportion to the accuracy 

 of its descriptions there would be little need for the publication of 

 this paper. Nearly every catalogue in which, for example, the 

 variety Currie's Rust Proof is listed, states that it is distinctly 

 rust-proof. The number of stringless and rustless varieties is ex- 

 ceedingly small as compared with the number fisted as such. So 

 long as the seedsman finds it unprofitable to call attention to the 

 defects and to state without exaggeration the valuable characters 

 of a variety, we cannot expect to find reliable descriptions in our 

 seed catalogues. From present indications, however, the time is 

 not far distant when the seed catalogue will be a much more use- 

 ful publication than it is now. It will give not only reliable informa- 

 tion regarding the culture of the various crops, but accurate 

 descriptions of the various varieties, and advice as to their adapta- 

 tion to soil, climate and other conditions. 



' U. S. I2th Census Report, 1900. 



^ Tracy, Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agr., 1900. 



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