PEAS AND BEANS 99 



Beans, Climbing. The cultivation of these beans 

 follows closely on the lines set down for peas, but a few 

 differences must be noted. Outdoor sowings should not 

 be made before the second week in May. If it is desired 

 to obtain a crop at the earliest possible moment, seeds 

 which have been soaked in water for an hour may be 

 sown in pots during April and raised in a cold frame. 

 Eventually they should be transplanted in the open 

 during the latter end of May or the beginning of June. 

 This plan will give produce about three weeks earlier 

 than if the seeds are placed directly in the open ground. 

 Beans must be planted further apart than peas, the 

 requisite distance being about nine inches. Give them 

 more water than peas and spray the flowers in order to 

 make them set. Peas hold themselves up by means of 

 tendrils, but beans twine round their support ; therefore 

 whilst bushy stakes serve for peas, straight sticks or 

 twine, made taut, serve best for beans. Remember 

 that, although the fleshy green pods and the undeveloped 

 beans are a good food, the full-grown purple-coloured 

 seeds are almost as harmful as the deadly nightshade. 



Good varieties of this vegetable are : Ne Plus Ultra, 

 Giant Painted Lady, Button's Al, and Jubilee Runner. 



Beans, Dwarf. The dwarf French bean is the most 

 useful member of this class. It grows rapidly, requires 

 little or no staking and produces pods of a smoother and 

 more delicate nature than are afforded by the climbing 

 varieties. Cultural hints are similar to those for the 

 runner beans, but short Y-shaped props are used instead 

 of six-foot sticks. 



Dwarf French beans lend themselves admirably to 



i 



