31 



lay it in the bottom o{ a vegetable dish. Then moisten the toast 

 with a little water from the slew pan, and butter it. When the 

 asparagus is taken up and drained, it is to be laid on tise toast, 

 and the strings removed. Serve with melted butter, and salt to 

 the taste." — Gardener^s Text-Book. 



Balm. 31elissa Officinalis. — Balm is a liarcly peren- 

 nial, having a very fragrant odor. "It may be prop- 

 agated by seed, by offsets of the roots and by slips of 

 the young shoots. The first two modes can be prac- 

 ticed either in Spring or Autumn, but slips are gener- 

 ally found to succeed best when they have been set 

 out in the latter part of spring." It grows best on a 

 poor friable soil and needs no manure. It is used as 

 a trimming for meats and for medicinal purposes, — 

 The Lemon is usualty preferred. 



Bean. Viciafahd. — There are two distinct species 

 of the Bean, the viciafahaov English bean and j'V^a^e- 

 olus or kidney bean. These species require entirely 

 difibrent treatment. The English, the most common 

 vaiieties of which, are, the Early Mazagan^ Lcikj Pcd, 

 Broad Windsor and Green Nonpar cil, are very hardy, 

 and ma}^ be sown very early as spring frosts do not 

 injure them; they also produce more certain crops 

 when soAvn early. They succeed well by being sov/n 

 in the fall. They require a stiff moist loam with a 

 considerable proportion of clay. Sow thinly in drills 

 two feet apart. Gather them for use while young 

 and tender. These are usually inferior with us to the 

 class of kidney beans. 



Bean. Phaseolus vnlc/aris. — ^The class of kidney 

 beans is so extensively known and cultivated as hard- 

 ly to require a notice here. They are called kidney 

 beans in contradistinction to the English bean, or vi- 

 da fala. There are a large number of kinds of the 

 dwarfs, and also of the runners or pole bean, of this 

 variety. Some of the most popular of the dwarfs, 

 are, the Early Yelloiu Six Weeks, ' Early IloJiaiuk which 

 is not injured by a smart frost. Early Casehiife, Early 

 Dwarf HorticuUurcd, Early Valentiney and the Divarf 

 Red zxiA White Cranberry. 



