THE BEAN. 183 



smooth and straight/and of a very lively green color, 

 so that for haricots verts this is decidedly preferable. 



Among the kinds known in -the United States as 

 Bunch-BeanSy or, from their valuable characteristics of 

 crispness, Snap Shorts, are the following : JEarly Mo- 

 haiuk, Early Six- Weeks, Early Valentine, Yelloiv Six- 

 Week^, Late Valentine, or Refugee, Black Valentine, 

 'Royal White Kidney, di,ndi Ohina Red-eye. The Early 

 Valentine variety is extensively cultivated for the Phil- 

 adelphia market. The pods are round, and continue on 

 the vines fit for culinary purposes a long time. Bush- 

 beans of the kind just named may be planted in the 

 Middle States from the first of April till the last of Au- 

 gust. The first planting is very apt to be nipped by 

 the frost. 



Climbing beans, commonly called Pole Beans, are ex- 

 tensively' cultivated in the United States, especially that 

 called the Lima, of which there are two varieties, the 

 white and the green, the latter being the largest, but 

 the white producing the most certain crops. When 

 eaten, both kinds are taken from the pods like peas. 

 • In the vicinity of Philadelphia, where they are raised 

 very abundantly, Lima beans are planted in the last 

 week in April, in hills three and a half by four feet 

 apart, precisely like corn. The hills should consist of 

 good rich soil, raised only a few inches above the gene- 

 ral level, with five or six beans in each, covered about 

 two inches deep. If all the seeds grow, the plants may 

 be thinned to .three. If they fail, replanting will ^f 

 course be required. Although they will, in rich ground 

 and in a good season, grow to the length of twenty feet, 

 the poles usually employed for their support are not 



