32 THE PRACTICAL GARDEN -BOOK 



usually planted in hills 2-3 ft. apart in the rows. Dwarf 

 Limas may be sown thinly in drills. 



A large number of the varieties of both the green -podded 

 and the wax-podded Beans are used almost exclusively as 

 snap Beans, to be eaten with the pod while tender. The 

 various strains of the Black Wax are the most popular 

 string Beans. The pole or running Beans are used either 

 green or dried, and the Limas, both tall and dwarf, are 

 well known for their superior flavor either as shelled or 

 dry Beans. The old-fashioned Cranberry or Horticultural 

 Lima type (a pole form of Phaseolus vulgaris] is probably 

 the best shell Bean, but the trouble of poling makes it 

 unpopular. Dwarf Limas are much more desirable for 

 small gardens than the pole varieties, as they may be 

 planted much closer, the bother of procuring poles and 

 twine is avoided, and the garden will have a more sightly 

 appearance. Both the dwarf Limas and pole Limas require 

 a longer season in which to mature than the bush varieties, 

 and only one planting is usually made. But the bush va- 

 rieties may be planted at intervals of two weeks from the 

 first planting until the 10th of August. Each planting may 

 be made on ground previously occupied by some early- 

 maturing crop. Thus, the first to third plantings may be on 

 ground from which has been harvested a crop of spinach, 

 early radish or lettuce ; after that, on ground where early 

 peas have been grown ; and the later sowings where beets 

 or early potatoes have grown. String Beans for canning 

 are usually taken from the last crop. One quart of seed 

 will plant 100 ft. of drill ; or 1 quart of Limas will plant 

 100 hills. 



Limas are the richest of Beans, but they often fail to 

 mature in the northern states. The land should not be 

 very rich in nitrogen (or stable manure), else the plants 

 will run too much to vine and be too late. Select a fertile 

 sandy or gravelly soil with warm exposure, use some soluble 

 commercial fertiliser to start them off, and give them the 



