76 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



list adds, " they are gently laxative, and in- 

 gender good bloode." 



The dwarf-beans are the most generally 

 cultivated at present, as the running varieties 

 require tall sticks, which add considerably to 

 the expense , of cultivation. But of all the 

 varieties none exceed the scarlet runners in 

 point of agreeable flavour and tenderness ; 

 they are also the most productive, and afford 

 a succession of pods until checked by the 

 frost. It is rather remarkable, that although 

 this variety has been cultivated in England 

 since 1633, yet there still exists a prejudice 

 against these beans ; some, on account of 

 their size, consider them old. The author re- 

 members their being planted in many parts 

 of the country, merely as an ornament to 

 cover walls and to form arbours, without an 

 idea of cooking the pods for the table. 



The French carried this prejudice to an 

 extent equal to the superstition of the an- 

 cients respecting the bean, Faba. Some years 

 back a lady of our acquaintance took some 

 seeds of the scarlet runners to Jamaica, and 

 by planting them in her garden on the moun- 

 tains, they were brought to tolerable perfec- 

 tion ; but her gardener, who was an old 



