SACRED BEAN, ETC. 163 



vated on a large scale in this country. But the China bean, with a 

 red eye, is preferred by Buei. Beans are generally worth about $1 

 per bushel, and with care may be as profitable as wheat. The addi- 

 tional sorts of kidney dwarf's or string beans are, Early Cranberry, 

 Early Mohawk (very hardy), Early Yellow (6 weeks), Early Canadian. 

 Dwarf, Early Dwarf Cluster, Quaker, China Dwarf, Large White 

 Kidney do., White and Red Cranberry do., Warrington or Marrow, 

 Refugee, Rob Roy, v hite Cutlas of Carolina. Of the Pole, or Run- 

 ning beans are Large White Lima, Carolina, or Saba, Scarlet and 

 While Dutch Runners, Red and White Cranberry, (3 last String 

 Beans) Asparagus, Dutch Knife, &c. 



Beans may be preserved throughout the winter by removing the 

 strings and breaking them up when green, as usual for cooking ; put 

 them in layers in a stone pot, and sprinkle salt upon them, covering 

 and pressing them with a board and a stone upon it. They then make 

 their own brine, and are as good in mid-winter or spring as in their 

 season, if soaked over night, &c. 



SACRED BEAN, nelumbium, C. 13. O. 6. Nimphacea, sp. 2. A. 

 called in Ceylon, nelumbo. It is considered a sacred plant in Japan, 

 and the East, and pleasing to the Deities. The long stalks are eaten, 

 as pot-herbs. It grows in muddy marshes, and is cultivated in the 

 gardens of the Chinese mandarins as Lien wha. Both seeds and roots 

 are esculent, sapid and wholesome. The seeds, with slices of the 

 roots, kernels of apricots and walnuts and alternate layers of ice, are 

 served up to the most distinguished persons at table. The roots are 

 also laid up in winter in salt and vinegar. The seeds are of the size 

 and form of the almond, but of a still more delicate taste. The ponds 

 in China are generally covered with it, exhibiting a very beautiful ap- 

 pearance, the flowers being both handsome and fragrant. It sustains 

 the cold well, and might probably be cultivated here. There are many 

 varieties. The Esyptians are supposed to have prepared their coloca- 

 sia from the root of this plant, but it is not now found in that country ; 

 from which it is inferred that they cultivated it with great care. The 

 Romans also made many efforts to cultivate it, as well as moderns in 

 Europe. They should be grown in a tub or pot partly full of water 

 all the time the plants are growing. The seed will keep 40 years, and 

 flower the first year. 1. sp. N. A- 



DOLICHOS, C. 17. O. 4., a plant of the ancients, supposed to be 

 the kidney bean of the moderns. It is a climbing species, many run- 

 ning to the top of the highest trees in the East. Most of them are 

 eatable, though inferior to the kidney bean. Some have tuberous roots 

 also, which are eaten. The seeds of D. soja are used in soups in Ja- 

 pan, and are the most common dish there, being eaten 3 times a day, 

 frequently. The Kitjap of the Chinese is prepared from the seeds, 

 and is used in almost all their dishes, instead of the common salt. 



