LEGUBIINOUS PLANTS. 219 



the middle of the wing ; these are succeeded by long 

 thick legumes, woolly within, and enclosing large flat 

 seeds. These flowers are very fragrant, and the rich 

 perfume of a bean-field, when the plants are in full 

 blossom, is as familiar as it is delightful to all lovers 

 of simple rural pleasures. The popular division of the 

 several varieties is, like that of peas, into field beans and 

 garden beans ; the same variety is, however, often cul- 

 tivated in both situations. The large variety called the 

 ' Windsor Bean ' is said to have been first cultivated 

 in that neighbourhood by some of the Dutch gardeners 

 who came over at the Revolution. There is a field 

 near Eton still called ' the Dutchman's garden.' 



Beans are propagated by seed sown in rows from 

 two to three feet asunder, either by the dibble or by 

 drilling ; the early kinds in October, and from De- 

 cember to January inclusive. The main crop is sown 

 in March and April, and the several varieties are con- 

 tinued in monthly succession until July. For late 

 crops the seeds, previously to being used, are soaked 

 for several hours in soft water. Some cultivators cut 

 off the tops of the plants when in bloom, which ope- 

 ration is supposed to promote an earlier and more 

 abundant production of well-filled legumes. While a 

 very late crop may be obtained by cutting down the 

 plants, as soon as they are in flower, to within a few 

 inches of the base. New stalks spring from the roots, 

 and yield pods at an advanced period of the year. 



The bean, though a coarser plant than the pea, is 

 much more liable both to disease and to the depreda- 

 tions of insects. When the plants become sickly from 

 an unfavourable soil or season, small fungi are apt to 

 form withinside the epidermis, such as the nestling 

 spheria (sphceria nidula), upon the roots, and the 

 bean blight (uredo fabce) upon the stems and leaves. 

 Though these are most probably the consequence of a 

 diseased state of the plants, they so destroy the epi- 



