BEAN, KIDNEY. 



is the destruction of weeds, and earth to be ' 

 drawn up round the stems. 



The pods of both species are always to be 

 gathered while young ; by thus doing, and care 

 being had not to injure the sterns in detaching 

 them, the plants are rendered as prolific and 

 long-lived as possible. 



Forcing. The hotbed must be of moderate 

 size, and covered with earth eight or nine 

 inches thick. When the heat has become re- 

 gular, the seed may be inserted in drills a foot 

 apart, and the plants allowed to stand six 

 inches asunder in the rows. Some gardeners 

 erroneously sow thick in a hotbed, moulded 

 over about six or seven inches deep, and re- 

 move the plants, when two or three inches 

 high, to the above-mentioned distances in an- 

 other for producing, water and shade being 

 afforded until they have rooted. Air must be 

 admitted as freely as to the melon. The same 

 precautions are likewise necessary as to keep- 

 ing up the temperature, taking the chill off the 

 water, &c., as for that plant. When the seed 

 begins to sprout, the mould should be kept re- 

 gularly moistened ; and when grown up, wa- 

 ter may be given moderately three times a 

 \reek. The temperature should never be less 

 than 60, nor higher than 75. 



Some plants of the hotbed sowing at the end 

 of March, are often, after being gradually har- 

 dened, planted in a warm border ; this will at 

 most hasten the plants in production a fort- 

 night before those sown in the open ground in 

 May. 



Those sown under frames in March for 

 transplanting into a border, when two or three 

 inches in height, must in like manner be har- 

 dened gradually for the exposure, by the plen- 

 tiful admission of air, and the total removal 

 of the glasses during fine days. If any are 

 raised in pots in the hot-house, they must in a 

 like manner be prepared for the removal, by 

 setting them outside in fine days, and there 

 watering them with colder water. If the sea- 

 son is too ungenial after all to remove them 

 even to a warm border, the plants are often 

 inserted in patches, to have the protection of 

 frames or hand-lights at night, or as the wea- 

 ther demands. It has been lately stated in a 

 provincial paper, that kidney-beans appear of 

 a perennial nature. In Somersetshire, they 

 have been observed to vegetate for several 

 years the plants being in the vicinity of a 

 steam-engine, and so situated that the frost 

 could not penetrate to the roots. I have not 

 yet had an opportunity of putting this state- 

 ment to the test of experiment. 



Runners. As these are more tender, and the 

 seed is more apt to decay than those of the 

 Dwarfs, no open ground crop must be inserted 

 before the close of April, or early in May, to 

 be continued at intervals of four weeks 

 through June and July, which will ensure a 

 supply from the middle of this last month until 

 October. Some gardeners force them in a 

 s ; )nilar manner to the Dwarfs : they certainly 

 require similar treatment; but they will en- 

 dure a higher temperature by a few degrees. 

 They are so prolific, and such permanent 

 bearers, that three open-ground sowings of a 

 156 



BEARD-GRASS. 



size proportionate to the consumption will, in 

 almost every instance, be sufficient. 



The runners are inserted in drills, either 

 singly, three feet apart, or in pairs, ten or 

 twelve inches asunder, and each pair four feet 

 distant from its neighbour. The seed is buried 

 two inches deep and four inches apart in the 

 rows, the plants being thinned to twice that 

 distance. If grown in single rows, a row of 

 poles must be set on the south side of each, 

 being fixed firmly in the ground ; they may be 

 kept together by having a light pole tied hori- 

 zontally along their tops, or a post fixed at 

 each end of a row, united by a cross-bar at 

 their tops ; a string may be passed from this 

 to each of the plants. If the rows are in pairs, 

 a row of poles must be placed on each side, so 

 fixed in the ground that their summits cross, 

 and are tied together. They are sometimes 

 sown in a single row down the sides of bor- 

 ders, or on each side of a walk, having the 

 support of a trellis-work, or made to climb poles 

 which are turned archwise over it. 



As the plants advance to five or six inches 

 in height, they should have the earth drawn 

 about their stems. Weeds must be constantly 

 cleared away as they appear. When they 

 throw up their voluble stems, those that strag- 

 gle away should be brought back to the poles, 

 and twisted round them in a direction contrary 

 to that of the sun : nothing will induce them 

 to entwine in the contrary direction, or from 

 left to right. 



For the production of seed, forty or fifty 

 plants of the Dwarf species will be sufficient 

 for a moderate-sized family, or thirty of the 

 Runner. They must be raised purposely in 

 May, or a like number from the crop in that 

 month may be left ungathered from ; for the 

 first pods always produce the finest seeds, and 

 ripen more perfectly. In autumn, as soon as 

 the plants decay, they must be pulled, and, 

 when thoroughly dried, the seed beaten out 

 and stored. (G. W.Johnson's Kitchen Garden.) 



BEAN-FLY. A beautiful bluish black fly, 

 generally found on bean flowers. It is some- 

 times called the collier. The aphides of beans 

 are invariably brought on by very dry weather; 

 they are most prevalent on the summits of the 

 plants. (See BEAXS.) The larvae of the lady- 

 bird, or lady-cow (Coccinella septempundata), 

 as well as the perfect insects, devour the aphis 

 greedily, feeding almost entirely upon these in- 

 sects. Several of the English summer birds 

 also live upon them. 



BEAR. A species of barley, called also 

 winter barley, square barley, and big. It is 

 sometimes written bere. This grain is chieily 

 cultivated in Scotland, the northern parts of 

 England, and Ireland. It yields a very large 

 return, but is not esteemed so good for malt- 

 ing as the common barley, for which reason it 

 is very little cultivated in the southern parts 

 of England. 



BEAR-BIND. See BLACK BIXH-WKKO. 



BEARD (Sax. bean*?). The same with the 

 awn of a plant. 



BEARD-GRASS (Polypogon). There are 



two sorts, the annual beard-grass (P. monspe- 



\ liensis) and the perennial beard-grass (P. lilto- 





