THE 



AMERICAN 



GARDENER'S MAGAZINE. 



NOVEMBER, 1836. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. Some Remarks on the Cultivation of Lima Beans. 

 By the Conductors. 



The uncertainty with which a crop of this truly estimable 

 vegetable is obtained in our climate, has led us, the past season, 

 to try a new method in their cultivation. 



It is well known that the Lima bean is a strong and very rapid 

 grower, attaining, when the plants are properly supplied with tall 

 stakes, the height of ten or fifteen feet, and, in some strong soils, 

 even overtopping stakes of the latter height. The plants rarely 

 show bloom until late in the season, when they have run some 

 distance; and often before the pods are well filled, and sufficiently 

 large for picking, our autumn frosts have entirely destroyed the 

 vines. The cultivator is thus not only deprived of his supply 

 for cooking, but is also prevented from preserving any ripe seed 

 for another season. To guard against disappointment, it is neces- 

 sary to have recourse to more than ordinary care and attention. 



The Lima bean is very tender, much more so than any other 

 variety, not excepting the Sieva or Cai'olina, — the latter often 

 succeeding when the former will not flourish at all. At the 

 time of sowing, which is usually in the month of May, the seed 

 often rots in the ground; if it comes up well, and dull, cold, 

 cloudy or very wet weather occurs, soon after, the plants turn 

 yellow and gradually appear less vigorous, finally damping off 

 close to the ground: it is rare that the cultivator can procure 

 plants from the first sowing: we have known, in some instances, 

 two or three to be made, and these without saving scarcely a 

 plant. The past season was so unpropitious that such failures 

 occurred with many cultivators. 



VOL. II. — NO. XI. 51 



