124 GARDEN FARMING 



Canada and most European countries. In North America its cul- 

 tivation is confined chiefly to the Dominion of Canada, where it is 

 grown as a garden crop and as a companion crop to corn for 

 silage purposes. These beans require a long, cool summer, and 

 because of the intense heat and protracted periods of drought 

 characteristic of most sections of the United States, do not thrive 

 in this country. 



Kidney, or haricot, beans. Kidney beans, known as haricot beans, 

 and technically as Phaseolus vulgaris, are the common field and 

 garden beans of America. According to the evidence which we 

 have upon this point, they are entitled to the distinction of being 

 native to the New World. It is the cultivation and uses of the 

 kidney beans 'which are to claim our attention in this book. 



Lima, or sugar, beans. The plants of Lima, or sugar, beans 

 (Phaseohts lunatus] are normally rank-growing climbers, although 

 within recent times a dwarf, nonclimbing variety has been developed. 

 They thrive best on strong, well-enriched lands and under tropical 

 or subtropical conditions. 



Dolichos beans. Two familiar examples of the Dolichos group 

 of beans, which differ slightly from the common beans, are the 

 hyacinth bean and the asparagus, or French yard-long, bean. The 

 hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) is a strong-growing, twining plant 

 used in this country chiefly for ornament, in which both the flowers 

 and pods figure prominently. 



Soy beans. The soy, or soja, bean (Glycine hispidd], while for 

 generations known and appreciated in Japan, is a comparatively 

 recent introduction into this country, and its cultivation has not yet 

 become general. In Japan it is used as food for man as well as for 

 stock, but in the United States it has received little attention except 

 as forage for cattle and swine. It is, however, destined to become 

 an important agricultural product, both as a grain and forage crop, 

 in many sections of the United States. 



Scarlet runner beans. The scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus mul- 

 tiflorus], also called the flowering bean, is a thick-rooted peren- 

 nial at the South, but not hardy at the North. The plant is popular 

 as an annual climber for covering arbors or as a shade for windows. 



Velvet, or banana, beans. The velvet, or banana, bean (Mucuna 

 utilis) is one of the most exacting members of the bean family as 



