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THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



VI C 



eating. About the same time as the Sandwich, comes the 

 Toker, which is a coarse kind, though much planted, because 

 it is a great bearer. The White and the Black Blossoms are 

 much esteemed by some persons. The former when boiled 

 are almost as green as peas, and being tolerably sweet, are more 

 valuable ; but both are very apt to degenerate, unless their 

 seeds are preserved with great care. The White-blossomed 

 Bean is an anomaly, as to the flowers, having none of the black 

 marks on their wings : the seed is semitransparent, and having 

 less of the peculiar Bean flavour when young than any of the 

 others, is on that account much esteemed. The Windsor sort is 

 allowed to be the best for the table, and when planted on a good 

 soil with sufficient room, the seeds will be very large, and in 

 great plenty ; and when they are gathered young, they are the 

 sweetest and best-tasted of all the sorts ; but should be care- 

 fully preserved by pulling out such of the plants as are not 

 perfectly formed, and afterwards by sorting out all the good 

 from the bad Beans. It is seldom planted before Christmas, 

 because it will not bear the frost so well as many of the 

 other sorts ; it is therefore generally planted for the great 

 crop to come in June and July. The Long-podded Bean, is 

 a yard or more in height, and a great bearer. There are 

 several subordinate varieties of this kind ; as, the Early Tall 

 Turkey, &c. The Dwarf Fan, or Cluster Bean, is chiefly 

 planted for curiosity ; the branches spread like a fan, and 

 the flowers are succeeded by small pods, both in clusters. 

 Propagation and Culture. All the early Beans are gene- 

 rally planted on warm borders under walls, pales, and hedges ; 

 those which are designed to come up first, being usually 

 planted in a single row pretty close to the fence. Those 

 which are planted early in October, will come up by the 

 beginning of November; and as soon as they are an inch 

 above ground, the earth must be carefully drawn up to their 

 stems with a hoe : this must be several times repeated, as 

 they advance in height, which will protect them from the frost, 

 and encourage their strength. In severe winters cover them 

 with peas-haulm, fern, or similar light covering, which will 

 secure them from the injury of the frost ; but constantly 

 take off the covering in mild weather, otherwise they will 

 draw up tall and weak, and come to little ; and if the surface 

 of the border be covered with tanners' bark, that will defend 

 the roots from frost, and other injuries. In the spring, when 

 they are four feet high, they should be fastened up to the 

 hedge with packthread or a small line, so as to draw them 

 as close as possible, to secure them from the morning frosts, 

 which in March and April are often severe enough to lay 

 down flat upon the ground all the Beans where this precaution 

 has not been taken ; which greatly retards their growth, 

 preventing their coming early ; and when the blossoms begin 

 to open toward the bottom of the stalks, the top of the stems 

 should be pinched off, which will cause those first pods to 

 stand, and thereby bring them forward. If these rules be 

 observed, and the ground well weeded, there will be little 

 danger of their failing. But lest this first crop should be 

 destroyed by frost, it will be absolutely necessary to plant 

 more about three weeks after the first, and so to repeat 

 planting more every three weeks or a month, till February ; 

 but those which are planted toward the end of November, 

 or the beginning of December, may be planted on sloping 

 banks, at a small distance from the hedges ; for if the wea- 

 ther be mild they will not appear above ground before 

 Christmas, and hence not so much exposed as the first and 

 second planting, especially where the surface of the soil is 

 covered with tan. The directions above given will be suffi- 

 cient for these, only it must be observed, that the larger 

 Beans should be planted at a greater distance than the small 



ones, and that those which are first planted must be put 

 closer together, to allow for some miscarryings ; therefore 

 when a single row is planted, the Beans may be put two 

 inches asunder, and those of the third and fourth planting 

 three inches, and when they are planted in rows across a 

 bank, the rows must be two feet and a half asunder, except 

 Windsor Beans, which require a foot more space between 

 the rows, and in the rows five or six inches asunder. In 

 the management of these later crops of Beans, the principal 

 care should be to keep them clean from weeds, and any other 

 plants which would draw away their nourishment; to keep 

 earthing them up, and, when .they are in blossom, to pinch off 

 their tops, which, if suffered to grow, will draw the nourish- 

 ment from the lower blossoms, which will prevent the 

 pods from setting, and so only the upper part of the stems 

 will be fruitful : and another thing should be observed in 

 planting of the succeeding crops, which is, to plant them on 

 moist strong land, as they seldom succeed on dry ground. 

 These after-crops should be planted at about a fortnight's 

 distance from each other, from the middle of February to the 

 middle of May, after which it is generally too late, unless 

 the land be very strong and moist ; for in warm dry light 

 land all the late crops of Beans are generally attacked by 

 the black insects, which cover all the upper part of their 

 stems, and soon cause them to decay. Beans may be 

 transplanted with as much safety and success as the Cab- 

 bage, or any other vegetable. The advantages attending 

 this mode of practice are important, as a full crop is im- 

 mediately insured ; the crop comes earlier; and the Beans 

 are rendered move prolific, especially in a we't season. The 

 Beans must be sown plentifully in a broad drill, under a 

 wall, some weeks previous to their being planted out.- 

 Where it is intended to save the seeds, a certain quantity 

 should be reserved for that purpose, according to the quan- 

 tity required. They should be managed in the same way as 

 those which are designed for the table; but none of them 

 should be gathered, because the first are always the finest 

 Beans, which it is advantageous to keep for seed. Those 

 who wish to preserve the several varieties as pure as pos- 

 sible, should never suffer two of the varieties to grow for 

 seeds in the same place; for by their farina mixing, they 

 will be liable to vary. In order to keep the early kinds per- 

 fect, those which come the earliest should be saved for seeds, 

 as directed for the others. When the seed is ripe, the stalks 

 should be pulled up, and set upright against a hedge to dry, 

 observing to turn them every third day, that they may dry 

 equally; then they may be threshed out, and cleaned for 

 use, or otherwise stacked up in a barn till there is more lei- 

 sure for threshing them out; and afterwards the seed should 

 be drawn over, to take out all those which are not fair, pre- 

 serving the best for use or sale. It is a very good method 

 to change the seed of all kinds of Beans, and not to sow and 

 save the seeds long in the same ground, for they do not suc- 

 ceed well ; therefore, if the land be strong where they are to 

 be planted, it will be best to procure the seeds from a lighter 

 ground, (and vice versd,) for by this method the crops will 

 be larger, and the Beans fairer, and not so liable to degene- 

 rate. Propagation of Field or Horse Beans. The Horse Bean 

 is known by its smsill pod and roundish seeds : it appears to be 

 the common parent of all the varieties. In Kent, some of 

 the Garden Beans are taken into field culture, as the Toker, 

 Windsor, Long-pod, Spanish, or Lisbon, and Mazagan ; 

 besides others, cultivated only in small quantities for sup- 

 plying the London seedsmen. There are two or three 

 varieties of the Field Bean, which differ in size and colour; 

 but the Tick Bean, that which is now in the greatest 



