106 MY GARDEN. 



employed in the preparation of entrees and soups. It is worth 

 consideration whether such an industry might not be profitably 

 undertaken in those parts of this country where land and labour 

 are moderate in price, and where our cultivated peas so far excel 

 the Continental varieties. 



Birds at times shell peas to a large extent. A visit of young 



jackdaws on a Sunday, when our garden is quiet, will clear a row of 



peas. The beautiful bullfinch is equally destructive. But the greatest 



enemy to the pea is the pea fungus, which will be described hereafter. 



The Bean (Faba vulgaris, fig. 148) is a vegetal highly esteemed 



by some persons, but it is inferior 

 to the pea, which it resembles in the 

 amount of nitrogenous matter in its 

 composition, and in the high pro- 

 portion of phosphates which is con- 

 tained in the ash. In Italy it appears 

 to be used even to a greater extent 

 than in England, although the dish 

 of beans and bacon is never omitted 



FIG. 148. Early Mazagan Bean, diam. r r . T " T d 



Horace enjoyed them nearly two thousand years ago 



" O quando faba Pythagorse cognata, simulque 

 Uncta satis pingui ponentur oluscula lardo ? " Satira vi. 



Beans are sown about three inches apart in drills about three inches 

 deep, in the month of December, for the first crop of the next year. 

 These bear in June, and by successive sowings in January, February, 

 and March the season may be maintained till autumn. We sow the 

 Mazagan (fig. 148) in December, and the Long Pod or Green Long 

 Pod in spring. There are many other varieties which we occasionally 

 grow, but these are the principal ones in use at my garden. A bean, 

 to my taste, should be quickly grown, and little larger than a marrow- 

 fat pea to be in perfection, for if it be larger and harder there are not 

 many persons who can readily digest them. Beans are sometimes 



