IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME XIV 



No. 158 



Editor -J- W. Besant. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



APRIL 

 1919 



Food Production* 



RUNNER BEANS 



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HEX une takes into consid- 

 eratiun its mauy and various 

 attributes, it is not surpris- 

 ing that this vegetable 

 should enjoy sucdi popu- 

 larity as it usually does. 

 It certainly is one of the choicest of our 

 summer and early autumn vegetables, and with 

 many, I think, takes precedence to Peas. It is 

 not my intention to go thoroughly into the de- 

 tails of cultivation, but merely to touch upon 

 some of the more salient features and reasons, 

 with a view to further popularising this crop 

 amongst amateurs who may not be altogether 

 too familiar with its cultivation. 



First and foremost, 1 think it can safely Ijc 

 said that no vegetable gives greater returns for 

 the sj^ace the crop occupies than does the sub- 

 ject of this note, and this alone should ensure 

 its inclusion in all gardens. 



It is, of course, perhaps a difficult matter for 

 some to obtain stakes or rods for the proper 

 supjjort of the growth, but if properly utilised 

 this is not such a serious item as many imagine, 

 and with care will last for several seasons. A 

 row of Eunner Beans well grown Avill pro^•ide 

 abundance of produce from the time the earliest 

 flowers set and gain sufficient size for picking 

 until frost puts an end to them in the autumn, 

 and unfortunately it is one of the first crojjs to 

 suffer in that respect. 



With good cultivation the line will easily 

 cover a height of t\^'elve feet or more, for which 

 there is no rent to pay, and, furthermore, when 

 grown in a row across the garden provides shade 

 to other crops, which is beneficial of a hot, dry 

 sunmier. Where more than one line is grown 

 they should not be closer together than the 



height of the stakes, and, where possible, the 

 farther the better. 



Apart fi'om its utility, it is also one of the 

 handsomest of our kitchen garden crops, and 

 especially the scarlet flowered variety. 



The white flowered Bean is just as prolific, 

 and et^ually as good productively, but not quite 

 so showy. During such times as these it might 

 well be grown in clumps at the back of the 

 flower borders if space does not permit else- 

 where, and the plants staked as for Sweet Peas. 

 I'or covering arbours or screens, except in very 

 unfavourable situations and soil, it might well 

 be used, and to encourage free growth against 

 galvanised or iron supports a few thin sticks 

 just strong enough to carry the growth until it 

 becomes vigorous may be tied on near the base. 



As might be imagined, the plant is a gross 

 feeder, and, therefore, the ground which the 

 plants are to occupy should be well dug and 

 liberally enriched with manure. When grown 

 in lines it is the usual practice to take out a 

 trench as is done for other vegetables, as, for 

 example. Celery and Peas, leaving a slight de- 

 pression when finished off to admit of soakings 

 of water should the weather be dry. If grown 

 in clumps the soil may be removed a yard or 

 so in diameter, and manure added in a similar 

 manner. When grown in this manner staking 

 need not be so effectively done as for a row, as 

 there is less resistance to wind, and long pea 

 b(niglis well thrust into the ground and tied 

 round with stout twine or cord will answer ad- 

 mirably, and for a small household this prac- 

 tice has much to recommend it. Seed may be 

 sown direct into the open ground during the 

 present month, or, better still, fill some four or 

 five inch pots with some old potting soil, or 



