314 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



riety is, however, often cultivated in both situa- 

 tions. The earliest garden bean is a small seeded 

 kind called the mazagan. The large variety, 

 called the " Windsor bean," is said to have been 

 first cultivated in that neighbourhood by some 

 of the Dutch gardeners who came over at the 

 revolution. There is a field near Eton still 

 called " the Dutchman's garden." 



Beans are propagated by seed sown in rows 

 from two to three feet asunder, either by the 

 dibble or by drilling ; the early kinds in Octo- 

 ber, and from December to January inclusive. 

 The main crop is sown in March and April, and 

 the several varieties are continued in monthly 

 succession until July. For late crops the seeds, 

 previously to being used, are soaked for several 

 hours in soft water. Some cultivators cut off 

 the tops of the plants when in bloom, which ope- 

 ration is supposed to promote an earlier and 

 more abundant production of well filled legumes; 

 while a very late crop may be obtained by cut- 

 ting down the plants, as soon as they are in 

 flower, to within a few inches of the base. New 

 stalks spring from the roots, and yield pods at 

 an advanced period of the year. 



The field bean, of which there is a larger and 

 smaller sort, the latter called ticks, is sown in 

 drills by a machine, so as to admit of horse-hoe- 

 ing, and otherwise ploughing or stirring up be- 

 tween the rows. By this means a larger crop is 

 produced, and the land cleaned and brought into 

 a better state for a succeeding corn crop. Beans 

 are excellent food for hard working horses, and 

 for fattening hogs for bacon. The flour of beans 

 and peas is more nutritive than that of oats, but 

 less easy of digestion. A bushel of beans is sup- 

 posed to yield fourteen pounds more of flour than 

 a bushel of oats ; and a bushel of peas eighteen 

 pounds more, or, according to some, twenty 

 pounds. A thousand parts of bean-flour were 

 found by Sir H. Davy to yield 570 parts of nu- 

 tritive matter, of which 426 were mucilage and 

 starch, 103 gluten, and 41 extract. 



The bean, though a coarser plant than the pea, 

 is much more liable both to disease and to the 

 depredations Qf insects. When the plants be- 

 come sickly, frbm an unfavourable soil or season, 

 small fungi are apt to form withinside the epi- 

 dermis, such as the nestling spheria (sphmria 

 nidula), upon the roots, and the bean blight 

 (wedo faboe) upon the stems and leaves. 

 Though these are most probably the conse- 

 quence of a diseased state of the plants, they so 

 destroy the epidermis as to render recovery im- 

 possible, and the crop is greatly injured or alto- 

 gether destroyed. The black aphis also often 

 commits terrible havoc. It generally appears 

 first in the young leaves of the top, and therefore 

 may be removed by a little timely care without 

 injuring the plants ; but if once it is allowed time 

 to establish itself, it is very difficult of eradication, i 



Several other species of ticia are found grow- 

 ing wild in Britain, known as vetches or tares. 

 Thus, vicia st/hatica and v. cracca are not unfre- 

 quent in meadows, and are considered as valu- 

 able herbage plants. They yield a great bulk of 

 fodder, which is reckoned very nutritious. Some 

 agriculturists have proposed to cultivate these 

 alone ; but Curtis remarks, that they would pro- 

 bably in that case choke themselves for want of 

 support. 



Tlie Vida Sativa, the winter and summer tare, 

 is also a valuable agricultural plant. Some con- 

 sider the winter variety as a distinct species; but 

 Martyn proved, by cultivating both, that they 

 were not even very distinct varieties. The win- 

 ter variety is sown in September or October, and 

 the summer at different periods from February 

 to June, for successive cuttings. The soU re- 

 quires to be in good condition, otherwise they 

 will not grow to great luxuriance. On a good 

 soil they will yield ten or twelve tons per acre. 

 The crop is seldom left to ripen its seeds but 

 when seeds are wanted. The only use of these 

 is to feed pigeons or poultry. 



The Kidney-Bean fphaseolusj, is so called 

 from phaseliis, a little boat, which the pods very 

 much resemble. Two species are cultivated in 

 England, both natives of warm countries, and 

 though they grow and pod well in Britain dur- 

 ing the warm months, they will neither bear the 

 frosts of early spring, nor those of late autumn. 

 The dwarf kidney-bean (phaseolus vulgaris), a 

 native of India, but erroneously called the French 

 bean, is mentioned as being in common cultiva- 

 tion in England in the year 1597. The species 

 called the runner (phaseolus muUiflorusJ was 

 introduced from South America in the year 1G33. 

 It is supposed that the scarlet variety, which 

 grows so tall and is so prolific, was first culti- 

 vated about that time by Tradescant, the cele- 

 brated gardener at Lambeth. It was then, we 

 are told, in so great repute for its flowers, that 

 they formed the leading ornament in the nose- 

 gays of the ladies; and it seems to have kept its 

 place only as an ornamental plant for nearly a 

 hundred years, as its legumes were seldom used 

 as an edible substance until brought into notice 

 by Miller of Chelsea, in the eighteenth century. 



The general characteristics of the two species 

 are the same. The leaves are ternate, attached 

 to long petioles; and the flowers, differing in 

 colour according to the variety, grow on racemes 

 or short lateral branches, coming out from one 

 common peduncle. These are succeeded by ob- 

 long pods, containing shining seeds of a kidney 

 sliape. 



The stems are more or less voluble in all ; but 

 those of the dwarf kind are of very low growth, 

 and require no support. The stalks of the run- 

 ners ascend eight or ten feet, and, therefore, either 

 tall sticks are provided around which they may 



