64 



AVliile our beans are very sensitive to cold and crave the warm- 

 est locations, those of our English cousins will stand slio;ht 

 frosts with impunity and thrive in the coldest locations. For 

 this reason they rarely do well in this countr}^, and if they are 

 planted it should be as soon as the frost is out of tlie ground, 

 and in a cool location. In England the bean is raised by the 

 acre to feed to stock, whence comes the name ' ' Horse l)ean " 

 for one of the varieties, and when fully grown with their thick 

 skin and rank fia\(»r they are no delicacy, but I have eaten 

 them gatht>red when yomig, before the large eye is at all prom- 

 inent, when they were as delicate and rich as the finest Lima. 



Our English cousins know nothing of tliat delicious delicacy 

 Avhich is found (tn c\ery table Avhen corn is in the milk. One 

 of their number who chanced to be travelling in this country 

 (hiring the season of green corn, returned to his coinitrymen 

 in raptures over the new found dish, and planning a siu'prisc 

 for his epicurean friends, he ordered sundry dozen of green 

 ears from America l)y steamer. On their arrival they Avere 

 set before his friends at a great Ijanquet as tlic dish of the oc- 

 casion. Ilis extras agant praise had raised a fever of expecta- 

 tion, and how it was satisfied in corn in the milk that had been 

 i)icked a fortnight ))ofore it Avas cooked and meanwhile enjoyed 

 an ocean vovage, any Yankee can guess. It is said tliat as 

 Avry faces Avent the i-ounds of the table witli the first bite, 

 the host declared on his honor that green corn cooked in ^Vmcr- 

 ica tasted vastly different from AA'hat it Avas Avhen cooked in En- 

 gland. Some of our city friends know of green coi-n as a lux- 

 ury only as a reminiscence of their childhood. 



Of the early varieties of SAveet corn the Extra Early Dwarf 

 is as early as any knoAvn to nie. The ears are small, Avhicli is 

 true of most of the earliest vegetal:>les of their kind. The 

 stalks are also small, so that tlie drills can be planted from tAvo 

 to two and a half feet apart. The Earl Narragansett is Avith- 

 in a fcAv (lavs as early, and has tlie merit of making larger 

 ears, Avliile the kernels are i-emarkably large. Tlie Forty 

 (lavs corn is a AA'hite fluit variety, l)ut earlier tliau aii\ of tln" 



