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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the Dwarf White Dutch, Flat Yellow 

 Canada, aad Brewer's White Kidney 

 beans. Sown after May, they should 

 have a trench on the north side of the 

 row, as directed for late-sown peas, to 

 facilitate the giving of abundance of 

 water. This applies particularly to 

 runners, which bear prodigiously when 

 the roots are kept moist by frequent 

 waterings, but liquid manure is not 

 necessary. 



In growing runners, the chief thing 

 is to give them plenty of room. Ex- 

 pert gardeners are always careful not 

 to pack things too close ; but in cottage 

 gardens, where runners are especially 

 valuable, people are apt to overcrowd 

 them, and altogether treat them very 

 xmfairly. They shou.ld be in single 

 rows, running north and south, if 

 possible, and full three feet apart, 

 better five feet apart, with a row or 

 two of lettuce or spinach between. The 

 seed should be sown two inches deep 

 and four inches apart in the rows, but 

 to be thinned to eight inches as soon 

 as they begin to run. At any less dis- 

 tance thin that they choke each other, 

 and when they ought to be bearing 

 lieavily are so matted together, that 

 they give you only half a crop. The 

 seed should not be sown till the first 

 week in May, for there is nothing 

 gained by early sowing: but in the 

 poor man's garden two sowings, at 

 least, ought to be made, for why should 

 a poor man be without beans after the 

 middle of September, when a second 

 sowing would keep his table supplied 

 till November? In any case three 

 sowings are plenty, say the first early 

 in May, the second in the middle 

 of June, and the third in the first week 

 of July, and better one row only of 

 each sowing than to put in all at once, 

 for they are things that can be eaten 

 by everybody, and at almost anytime, 

 and to have them grown out in Sep- 

 tember, as I generally see them in the 

 south of England, when they might be 

 had as long as the frost would spare 

 them, is very bad management. 



Runners may be grown either with 

 or without sticks, but they bear better 

 if allowed to climb about five feet, and 

 then have their tops nipped off". The 

 sticks should be put on the south side 

 of rows that run east and west, and 



alternately on both sides of those run- 

 ning nortii and south. When grown 

 without sticks, they must be topped 

 every morning as soon as they begin 

 to put out ruiiaers. They should be 

 taken off about the third joint, or if 

 only a couple of joints from the root 

 be left at first it will be quite enough, 

 and long before the season is over they 

 will be thickly matted together, in spite 

 of every care. One day's neglect of 

 topping will sometimes put them into 

 confusion, for, after a shower, the 

 runners rise all over them ; still they 

 must be kept nipped down as regularly 

 as possible, and there must be no fear 

 of sacrificing all beyond the third 

 joint. They come in very early with 

 this treatment, but towards the end 

 of the season they get very full of 

 snails, and the beans touch the ground 

 and get soiled, so that a few rows on 

 sticks are very desirable. 



For sorts the Common Scarlet is 

 the best for all general purposes. 

 Where a few rows are wanted for 

 ornament as well as use, the White 

 Long Pod is very effective, and the 

 pods deliciously tender. The Dutch 

 runners are not in great favour with 

 our seedsmen, but they are really 

 valuable, for they bear most profusely, 

 and the pods are all that can be de- 

 sired, but they come in late. The 

 White Sabre and the Large White 

 Case-knife are two very luxuriant 

 sorts, rather late, but immense bearers, 

 and very valuable for use as screens, 

 for their large bunches of white flowers 

 and ample foliage render them very 

 ornamental. The small \Yhite French 

 Kunner is another useful sort, but it 

 does not ripen its seeds in this country. 



As most people save seed of run- 

 ner beans, a little care should be 

 taken to save it properly, for they 

 degenerate very much with those 

 who save them from year to year, 

 merely trusting to those which es- 

 cape in the picking. It is best to grow 

 a row on purpose for seed, and not to 

 gather a single pod from them. Or 

 part of a row may be left untouched, 

 for the first pods formed are the finest 

 and get well ripened before the season 

 closes ; wliereas, if they are gathered 

 from, the first pods ai'e sure to be 

 taken and a later row left to ripen,and 



