GARDEN BEANS. 201 



are used to a certain extent to make a green growth for 

 plowing under in citrus orchards. 



The Soy Bean. This Asiatic species, which has many 

 varieties, is grown to a limited amount by Chinese and 

 Japanese on river bottom and reclaimed lands, both for 

 forage and food. 



The Horse Bean. A broad bean, chiefly grown by Por- 

 tuguese in the San Francisco Bay region : hardy and pro- 

 lific, making free winter growth where frosts are light; 

 sometimes in demand for the debasement of coffee. 



GARDEN CULTURE OF BEANS. 



Much that has been said about the field growth of beans 

 applies to the garden culture. Condition of soil and time 

 for planting are practically the same, and so are the char- 

 acters of the growing season, except that the gardener 

 cares little for the maturing of his crop, but prefers a 

 green succession. A condition of late summer moisture, 

 then, that would be a serious trouble in the field, is an ad- 

 vantage in the garden. For a product of beans as a green 

 vegetable, the drying out which promotes maturity is to 

 be prevented, and if this is successfully done, either upon 

 naturally moist or irrigated land, the bean plants will con- 

 tinue their yield of green pods until frost cuts them down. 

 As California has, as a rule, a very long frostless season, 

 the bearing season of green pluckings may cover several 

 months. 



In frostless places, or in places of light frosts, where the 

 grower affords slight protective covering, the bean con- 

 tinues its growth and bearing into the winter and vines of 

 some varieties assert their perennial character. Even 

 where the frosts cut down the top, some of the phaseolus 

 varieties maintain their life and start again freely from 

 the old roots when the spring warmth invites activity. 



The continued growth of the bean late in the fall, in the 

 absence of frost, cometimes affords a better late than early 

 crop, because certain insects which destroy the early 

 blossoms cease from their labors, or because too high heat 



