234 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



friable and somewhat limy and not sandy. Phaseolus nanus, L. 

 (the Dwarf-Bean), and P. tumidus, Savi (the Sugar-Bean, or 

 Sword-Bean, or Egg-Bean), are varieties of P. vulgaris. Several 

 other species of Phaseolus seem worthy of culinary culture. 

 Haricot Beans contain very decided deobstruent properties, which 

 however are generally destroyed by too much boiling. To obviate 

 this they should be soaked for 24 hours in cold water to which salt 

 has been added, and then gently boiled for not more than 30 or 40 

 minutes in very little water (W. B. Booth). 



Phleum prat ens e, Linne.* 



The Catstail or Timothy Grass. Europe, North Africa, North 

 and Middle Asia. One of the most valuable of all perennial fodder 

 grasses. Its production of early spring herbage is superior to that 

 of the Cock's-foot Grass. It should enter largely into any mixture 

 of grasses for permanent pasturage. It will live also on moist and 

 cold clay ground. This grass, and perhaps yet more the allied 

 Phleum Alpinum, L., are deserving of an extensive transfer to 

 moory mountain regions. For hay it requires mowing in a young 

 stage. The seed is copiously yielded and well retained. The 

 greatest advantage from this grass arises, according to Langethal, 

 when it is grown along with clovers. It thrives even better on 

 sandy meadows than on calcareous soil ; it will prosper on poorer 

 ground than Alopecurus pratensis ; the latter furnishes its full yield 

 only in the fourth year, whereas the Phleum does so in the second. 

 The Timothy dries more quickly for hay and the seeds are gathered 

 more easily, but it vegetates later, is of harder consistence, and 

 yields less in the season after the first cut. Dr. Curl, of New 

 Zealand, observes that, while many grasses and clovers may cause 

 diarrho3a in sheep if eaten in their spring-growth, Timothy grass 

 when young does not affect them injuriously. 



Phoenix dactylifera, Linne.* 



The Date Palm. North Africa, also inland ; Arabia, Persia. This 

 noble Palm attains finally a height of 80, exceptionally 1 20 feet. It 

 is unisexual and of longevity. " Trees of from 100 to 200 years old 

 continue to produce their annual crop of dates," though gradually 

 at very advancing age at diminished rates. Though from the sap 

 sugar or palm wine can be obtained, and from the leaves hats, mats, 

 and similar articles can be manufactured, we here would utilize this 

 palm beyond scenic garden ornamentation only for its fruits. It is 

 in the oases of our desert tracts, swept by burning winds, where 

 the date palm would afford in time to come a real boon, although 

 it might be grown also in the valleys of our mountains and in any 

 part of our lowlands. Several bunches of flowers are formed in a 

 season, each producing often as many as 200 dates. In Egypt as 



