chap, yl] kidneybeans. 139 



their culture : for instance, they should be grown 

 in much stronger soil; they do not require 

 sticks ; and they are generally topped, that is, 

 the leading: shoot of each plant is cut off, an 

 operation that would be fatal to peas. There 

 are many different kinds of beans, though not 

 so many as of peas ; and the different varieties 

 may be divided into the early and the late. 

 The early beans may be sown in drills in 

 November or December, to stand the winter ; 

 but the main crop is generally sou n in January 

 or February. The broad beans are sown in 

 March and April, and some even so late as 

 June; and, instead of drills, a hole is made for 

 each bean separately with a dibber. Both sorts 

 are covered with earth, which is pressed down 

 and then watered ; and they require no further 

 care till the beans are three or four inches high, 

 when they should be hoed and earthed up. As 

 soon as the plants come into blossom, the tops 

 are cut off; and this is said not only to increase 

 the crop, but to prevent the plants from beins; 

 attacked with the insect called the black blight. 

 The crop should be gathered when the seeds, 

 that is, the beans, are about half-ripe. The 

 bean is said to be a native of Egypt, and it is 

 supposed to have been brought to England bv 

 the Romans. 



Kidneybeans differ from the other leguminous 

 vegetables, in the pods of all the kinds being 

 eaten. There are two distinct sorts, which are 

 different species, viz., the Dwarf Kidnevbeans, 

 and the Scarlet Runners; and these are again 

 separated into numerous subdivisions. A new 

 variety of the Runners was introduced in 1850, 



