HISTORY AND BOTANY 5 



fnultiilorus) is grown mostly for ornament. In ad- 

 dition to these. Bailey* tells us of Phaseolus radiatus 

 which is prized in Japan and has been introduced in- 

 to the United States as Adzuki bean. Vigna sinensis, 

 known in North America as cowpea, is often called 

 a bean. The Velvet bean of the south is a Mucutu. 

 The Jack bean is a Canavalia. The Sea beans of the 

 Florida coast are seeds of various tropical legumi- 

 nous plants transported by ocean current. The Lo- 

 cust bean, found on confectioners' stands and sold 

 as St. John's bread, grows naturally on the shores 

 of the Mediterranean sea where it is fed freely to 

 cattle and is often eaten by the poorer classes of 

 people. The scientific name is Ccratonia siliqiia. 

 In the 1905 report of the Rhode Island agricultural 

 experiment station, Dr. H. J. Wheeler makes 

 special reference to Phaseolus miingoradiafus. This, 

 he says, yields heavy crops in Rhode Island, is easily 

 grown, ripens its seed perfectly in that climate and 

 on account of its ability to gather nitrogen from the 

 air can be grown with a minimum expenditure for 

 manure. If ground and fed to fowds or other farm 

 animals it may be the means of materially lessening 

 the expenditure for the highly concentrated feeding 

 stuffs of w^hich eastern farmers are prone to buy too 

 many. It is being grown by the college for distri- 

 bution among the farmers in Rhode Island. 



'Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, Vol 1, p 135. 



