KICKXIA 



474 



KIDNEY BEAN 



KTCKXIA. (Probably commemorative. Nat. ord. 

 Apocynaces.) 



Smooth-leaved stove trees. Seeds ; cuttings in sand, 

 in a close case, with bottom-heat. Loam, leaf-mould, 

 and sand. 

 K. africa'na (African). 60. Yellow. W. Trop. Africa. 



Valuable rubber-tree. 



ela'stica (elastic). 50. Yellow. W. Africa. 1899. 

 Valuable rubber-tree. 



KIDNEY BEAN. Phase'olus vulga'ris. 



Varieties. There are three kinds the Runners, or 

 twining varieties ; the Dwarfs ; and the Skinless, or 

 Mange-tout. These last, and the runners, are those 

 most commonly cultivated, being eaten pod and seed 

 together, whilst of others only the seeds are eaten. 



RUNNERS. Large Running White, White Long Pod, 

 Dutch Case Knife, Long White, or Large White Sugar. A 

 good bearer, and one of the best for late use. 



Sabre. Seeds white. This is, perhaps, the best of all, 

 being a good bearer, and its pods of great length and 

 size. This sort grows very high. 



Prudhomme, or Prodommet. Seeds greyish, oval, and 

 small. There is a yellow variety of this. 



Prague, or Red Pea. Seeds round, of violet colour. A 

 moderate bearer, and late. 



Prague Bicolor. Similar to the last, seed a little larger. 

 A good bearer, but very late. 



Sophie. Like the Prague, but seeds whiter and larger. 

 A moderate bearer, and late. 



Small White French Runner. White seeds, oblong, and 

 very thin. It is a good bearer, but is too tender to ripen 

 its seeds in this country, except under a wall in a very 

 warm situation. 



Lima. Seeds very large, thick, and of a dirty white ; 

 pods large, short, slightly rough, and wrinkled. Prolific, 

 and the seeds are very mealy ; but in this climate a crop 

 can only be obtained by forwarding the plants in a hot- 

 bed, and planting them out singly in May. It is eaten 

 both in a green state and shelled. It grows high. 



Venetian Sugar. Resembling Lima, the principal diffe- 

 rence consisting in the seeds being flatter, larger, and 

 speckled with red. An abundant bearer, but must be 

 used young. 



Pale Turkey, or Scarlet Runner. Of this there are two 

 varieties distinct from the common Haricot, one with 

 scarlet, the other with white flowers ; the latter is pre- 

 ferable for culinary purposes on account of its greater 

 mealiness and thinner skin. There is also a third variety 

 with two-coloured flowers, but it is not superior to either 

 of the above. A good bearer, but not very early. 



DWARF. Dwarf White Dutch, Dutch Long Pod, or Early 

 Dwarf Dutch. Pods long, narrow, and excellent when 

 green ; seeds white, small, a little compressed. Not very 

 early in this country. 



Early White, or Brewer's White.^S&eds white, narrow, 

 rather long, and cylindrical. It is very dwarf, early, 

 good for forcing, equally suited for eating green, and 

 when the seeds are ripe. 



Dwarf White Sans-parchemin forms thick, bushy plants. 

 Good whilst green ; stringless till three parts grown, and 

 excellent when ripe. 



Dwarf American White. Pod short, of a strong and 

 branching habit, sometimes climbing a little, but generally 

 dwarf, and not requiring support ; very prolific ; its 

 short, swollen pod a little hooked, strongly coloured with 

 reddish-brown, particularly at the two extremities ; this 

 is not in the least stringy. 



Of the Haricot Suisse there are many varieties, of which 

 the principal are the White, the Grey, and the Red. 



Dwarf Black-Spotted. Grown particularly in the Maine. 

 The Mohawk from the United States. 



Dwarf Red-Speckled, Fulner's Spotted Dwarf, and Long- 

 Spotted French. These have peculiar characters, accord- 

 ing to the length and form of their seeds. They are all 

 excellent in a green state, for which they are chiefly used. 



Dwarf Negro. Used in a green state ; this rivals the 

 Swiss varieties. This is one of the best for general use, 

 and an abundant bearer. 



Haricot Noir de Belgique.ls perfectly dwarf, and is the 

 earliest which we are yet acquainted with. Its pods, 

 although rather pale, are very good in a young state. 



Crimson Runner. Highly esteemed for stewing when 

 ripe ; seeds red, flat, and small. 



Flat Yellow Canada. The most dwarf, and one of the 



earliest skinless, and therefore either good when young, 

 or when full grown ; seeds nearly round, pale yellow, 

 very good when dried. A good bearer. 



Polish Beans. A prolific sort, excellent either fresh- 

 shelled or dried ; seeds rather large, roundish, and 

 sulphur-coloured. There is a sub- variety of it with 

 clear, bronze-coloured seeds, which also appears to be 

 good. A good bearer, and early. Card. Chron. 



Soil and Situation. A very light, mellow, well-drained 

 loam. For the early and late crops, a sheltered border 

 must always be allotted, or in a single row about a foot 

 from a south fence, otherwise the situation cannot be too 

 open. 



Sowing commences with the year. They may be sown 

 towards the end of J anuary in pots, and placed upon the 

 flue of the hothouse, or in rows in the mould of a hotbed, 

 for production in March, to be repeated once every three 

 weeks in similar situations in February and March, for 

 supplying the table during April ; a small sowing may 

 be made, if fine open weather, under a frame without 

 heat, for removal into a sheltered border early in May. 

 The chief requisite for success in the hothouse is to have 

 them near the glass ; to keep them well watered ; the 

 air moist, and ventilated as much as the season permits. 



During May, and thence until the first week in August, 

 sowings may be made once every three weeks. In 

 September, forcing recommences, at first merely under 

 frames without bottom-heat ; October, and thence to 

 the close of the year, in hotbeds, &c., as in January. 

 Sowing, when a removal is intended, should always be 

 made in pots, the plants being less retarded, as the roots 

 are less injured, than when the seed is inserted in patches 

 or rows in the earth of the bed. It is a good practice, 

 likewise, to repeat each sowing in the frames without 

 heat after the lapse of a week, as the first will often fail, 

 when a second, although after so short a lapse of time, 

 will perfectly succeed. In every instance the seed is 

 buried one and a half or two inches deep. The rows of 

 the main crops to be two feet apart, the seed being 

 inserted either in drills or by the dibble, four inches 

 apart ; the plants, however, to be thinned to twice that 

 distance. If a vacancy occurs, it may always be filled 

 by plants which have been carefully removed by the 

 trowel from where they stood too thick. The seed in- 

 serted during the hottest period of summer should be 

 either soaked in water for five or six hours, laid in damp 

 mould for a day or two, or the drills be well watered 

 previously to sowing. 



The pods of both kinds are always to be gathered 

 while young ; by thus doing, and care being had not to 

 injure the stems in detaching them, the plants are 

 rendered prolific and long lived. 



Forcing. The hotbed must be of moderate size, and 

 covered with earth nine inches thick. When the heat 

 has become regular, the seed may be inserted in drills 

 a foot apart, and the plants allowed to stand six inches 

 asunder in the rows. Air must be admitted as freely as 

 to the melon. The same precautions are likewise neces- 

 sary as to keeping up the temperature, taking the chill off 

 the water, &c., as for that plant. When the seed begins 

 to sprout, the mould should be kept regularly moistened ; 

 and when grown up, water may be given moderately 

 three times a week. The temperature should never be 

 less than 60, nor higher than 75. 



Those sown under frames in March for transplanting 

 into a border, when two or three inches in height, must, 

 in a like manner, be hardened gradually for the exposure, 

 by the plentiful admission of air, and the total removal 

 of the glasses during fine days. If any are raised in 

 pots in the hothouse, they must be prepared similarly 

 for the removal, by setting them outside in fine days, and 

 there watering them with cold water. 



If the season is too ungenial to remove them even to 

 a warm border, the plants are often inserted in patches, 

 to have the protection of frames or hand-lights at night, 

 or as the weather demands. 



Runners. As these are more tender, and the seed is 

 more apt to decay, than those of the dwarfs, no open- 

 ground crop must be inserted before early in May, to 

 be continued at intervals of four weeks through June 

 and July, which will insure a supply from the middle of 

 this last month until October. 



They are so prolific and such permanent bearers, that 

 three open-ground sowings of a size proportionate to the 

 consumption, will, in almost every instance, be sufficient. 



