280 LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



Horticultural. Stem six feet or more in height ; flowers 

 BLE j^ HAQUE ' purple ; the pods are from five to six inches 

 LONDON long, nearly three-fourths of an inch broad, 



HORTICULTURAL. J 



WKKN s EGG. pale green while young, greenish-white, 

 streaked and blotched with brilliant rose-red, when more 

 advanced, much contorted, hard, parchment-like, and very 

 tenacious of their contents when ripe, and enclose five or 

 six seeds. 



Planted at the commencement of the season, the variety 

 blossomed in seven weeks, produced pods for stringing 

 in nine weeks, green beans in twelve weeks, and ripened 

 in a' hundred days. Plantings made during the last week 

 in June will mature their crop if the season be favor- 

 able. For the green beans, plantings may be made until 

 the last of June, and for the young pods until the first 

 of July. 



The ripe beans are flesh-white, streaked and spotted with 

 bright pink or red. They are egg-shaped, half an inch in 

 length, and four-tenths of an inch in width and depth. From 

 the time of ripening, the soft, flesh-like tint gradually loses 

 its freshness, and finally becomes cinnamon-brown, the 

 variegations growing relatively duller and darker. A quart 

 contains eleven hundred seeds, and will plant a hundred and 

 twenty-five hills. 



The Horticultural Bean was introduced into this country 

 from England about the year 1825. It has now become 

 very generally disseminated, and is one of the most popular 

 of the running sorts. As a string-bean, it is of good quali- 

 ty ; shelled in its green state, remarkably farinaceous and 

 well flavored ; and, when ripe, one of the best for baking or 

 stewing. It is hardy and productive, but is liable to deteri- 

 orate when raised many years in succession from seed saved 

 in the vegetable garden from the scattered pods accidentally 

 left to ripen on the poles. To raise good seed, leave each 

 year a few hills unplucked, allowing the entire product to 

 ripen. 



