484 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



and about the last of May, if the weather is warm and 

 pleasant, transplanted to hills in the open ground. 



By the following method, an early and abundant crop may 

 be obtained in comparatively favorable seasons : 



" As soon in spring as the weather is settled, and the soil 

 warm and in good working condition, set poles about six feet 

 in length, three feet apart each way, and plant five or six 

 beans in each hill, being careful to set each bean with its 

 germ downward, and covering an inch deep. After they 

 have grown a while, and before they begin to run, pull up 

 the weakest, and leave but three of the most vigorous plants 

 to a hill. As these increase in height, they should, if neces- 

 sary, be tied to the stakes, or poles, using bass-matting, or 

 other soft, fibrous material, for the purpose. When they 

 have ascended to the tops of the poles, the ends should be 

 cut or pinched off, as also the ends of all the branches, 

 whenever they rise above that height. This practice checks 

 their liability to run to vines, and tends to make them blos- 

 som earlier, and bear sooner and more abundantly, than they 

 otherwise would do." 



When cultivated in the vicinity of the Sieva, the varieties 

 readily intermix or hybridize ; and unless a fresh supply of 

 seed is procured every year or two, the Lima rapidly de- 

 generates. If raised for a succession of years, in northern 

 latitudes, from seeds of northern growth, the variety gradu- 

 ally becomes earlier ; but the plants decline in stockiness and 

 vigor, and the pods and seeds yearly decrease in size, until 

 the Lima is little, if at all, superior to some of the improved 

 forms of the Sieva. 



Plants from seeds of southern growth are generally healthy 

 and vigorous, and produce beans of remarkable size and ex- 

 cellence ; but the pods develop slowly, and comparatively few 

 reach full maturity. 



In tropical climates, the Lima Bean is perennial. 



