CHAPTER XL 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



American Garden-bean. Asparagus-bean. Lima Bean. Scarlet-runner. 

 Sieva Bean. English Bean. Pea. 



AMERICAN GARDEN-BEAN. 



French Bean. Kidney Bean. Haricot, of the French. Phaseolus 

 vulgaris. 



THE American Garden-bean is a tender, annual plant 

 from the East Indies, with a dwarfish or climbing 

 stem, and trifoliate leaves. The flowers are variable in 

 color, and produced in loose clusters ; the seed-pods are 

 long, flattened, or cylindrical, bivalved, and differ in a 

 remarkable degree in their size, form, and color. The 

 germinative powers of the seeds are retained three or four 

 years. 



As catalogued by seedsmen, the varieties are divided 

 into two classes, the Dwarfs, and the Pole or Running 

 sorts. 



Dwarfs. The plants of this class vary from a foot to 

 two feet in height. They require no stakes or poles for 

 their support, and are grown in hills or drills, as may suit 

 the taste or convenience of the cultivator. 



All of the varieties are somewhat tender, and should not 

 be planted before settled, mild weather. They succeed best 

 in warm, light soil ; but will flourish in almost any soil or 

 situation, unless it be shaded or very wet. 



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