CHAPTER V 

 VARIETIES AND WHERE THEY SUCCEED 



It is at once apparent that this chapter must, when 

 confined to a few hundred words, be from a botani- 

 cal standpoint incomplete, since a sizable book could 

 be written on varieties of beans alone, giving de- 

 scriptions, characteristics, origin, etc. However, 

 there are dozens of named varieties which are 

 seldom heard of outside certain localities, in which 

 the average bean grower has no interest. It is the 

 mission of this chapter to give the standard varie- 

 ties which have proved their worth, and will insure 

 the average bean grower the best crop under given 

 conditions. If one is looking for the characteristics 

 of the several varieties of beans and their botanical 

 relationship which have been put on the market, 

 he cannot do better than consult the comprehensive 

 work of Prof. H. C. Irish of Missouri which was 

 issued in June 1901 in connection with the twelfth 

 annual report of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 



Standard field varieties. Perhaps the most popu- 

 lar sort in commercial centers is the pea bean, vari- 

 ously known as Boston small pea, navy, true bean, 

 white navy, white field, etc. The plants are. accord- 

 ing to Professor Irish, I to i l /2 feet high and pro- 

 duce numerous runners about I foot long, often 

 spreading or trailing. The leaflets are deep green, 2 to 

 2 l / 2 inches long, roundish, ovate, slightly wrinkled; 

 blossoms are white, pods yellowish green, 3 to 4 

 inches long. The seed is white with veiny markings. 

 The famous Boston baked beans are prepared from 



