On Kid7ieybeans. 265 



in any house or shed where light is admitted, and which will 

 preserve them from a severe frost, these will come into use 

 about the month of January; and, by cutting them, and putting 

 them in the sand-bed, they will continue fit for use till tiie 

 spring. In this way I have kept cauliflowers to the end of 

 April. It will be necessary, from time to time, to examine and 

 cut off any decayed part that may appear. 

 West Plean, Jan. 7. 1837. 



Art. XII. On Kidneybeans. By A. Forsyth. 



To force Kidneybeans. — Plant any of the dwarf sorts (the 

 dun-coloured is generally preferred) in equal parts of rotten 

 dung, reduced to a soil, and loam, in shallow twenty-four sized 

 pots : say 1 in. crocks, 1 in. soil ; then six beans, covering them 

 with 1 in. more of soil. These pots may be stowed away in any 

 corner of the stove, till the plants appear above ground, when 

 they must be brought near the glass, and thinned out to three 

 or four of the best plants. As they advance, they must be 

 earthed up ; and the leader may be pinched off", to render them 

 short and bushy. When they come into flower, air must be ad- 

 mitted, to set the fruits ; and every one must be gathered as 

 soon as it is fit for the table, not to rob the others that are 

 forming. The plants may be grown in a house at any tempe- 

 rature above freezing, and below blood-heat : the medium, 60° to 

 6b°i I should prefer. They succeed well when planted out in a 

 pit or frame, with or without bottom heat, in rows 1 8 in. apart, 

 and 3 in. in the row ; and, as they advance, they are to be 

 topped as above, and sticked. Planted at Christmas, they re- 

 quire about eight weeks to bring fruit fit for the table, in a tem- 

 perature as preferred above. In the open border^ any of the sorts 

 will answer well : rich light soil, well drained and sheltered, is 

 best. They may be planted in rows 2 ft. apart, 2 in. asunder in 

 the row, and 2 in. deep. It is seldom safe to have this plant, in 

 leaf, unprotected, before the 1st of June, as the least frost would 

 ruin all. They can be forwarded in any warm nook, planted in 

 pots, or on strips of turf, in a cold frame or matted bed ; from 

 which they can be easily removed, uninjured, to their final place 

 of destination. They must be stopped, sticked, and picked, as 

 directed above for those indoors. 

 Isleiioorth, Jan. 6. 1837. 



