154 



Mr. Palmer, with whom it originated, had his entire crop of Limas 

 destroyed by cut-worms in 1883. He went over his field to re- 

 move 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 discarding all plants which had a tendency to climb, in succeed- 

 ing crops, the Burpee Bush Lima, as we now have it, was de- 

 veloped." 



The improvement of varieties as an occupation attracts few peo- 

 ple, for the only reward for such work is the pleasure one gets 

 out of it. Mr. C. N. Keeney of Le Roy, New York, undoubtedly has 

 done more along the line of bean breeding than any one else in 

 America. The seedsmen when in need of something new are in 

 the habit of calling on Mr. Keeney. His business is the growing 

 of beanSj peas, and sweet corn for seed. While he occasionally 

 practices crossing, he has accomplished more by judicious selection. 

 As an example of his work in selection may be mentioned the 

 i^ariety known as Stringless Refugee Wax. This variety was pro- 

 duced from the old variety, Refugee Wax, which possesses many 

 valuable characters, but the pods of which are decidedly stringy. 

 The varieties are very similar in every respect, except that the 

 former is stringless. From the variety Golden Wax was developed 

 a type. Rustless Golden Wax, that is immune to the dreaded bean 

 disease, anthracnose. These results are very encouraging. 



On the other hand, there is still much to be desired in the way of 

 varieties for special purposes. We need a wax variety that is as 

 hardy, as productive and as resistant to disease as Navy Pea ; similar 

 in habit and as reliable as Red Valentine ; with pods as uniform and 

 of as good appearance as Davis Wax ; and of as good quality as 

 Yoisemite. We need for the canning trade, a variety similar to Late 

 Refugee but less susceptible to disease. We need also special varie- 

 ties for particular soils, climates, markets and uses. 



The market gardener can do much toward developing a strain 

 for his particular purpose. He must first of all " know beans " ; 

 that \s, he must be acquainted with the existing varieties. After 

 deciding which variety most nearly approaches his ideal, he should 

 persistently select the more desirable individuals until the ideal is 

 reached. If such characters as vigor, productiveness, disease-re- 

 sistance, and the like are desired the unit must be the plant ; if 

 the characters pertain to the pod the unit must be the pod ; if 



