BEAN. 309 



Potato. It has stems, leaves, and flowers much like thfi 

 common annual Sunflower, to which family it belongs. 



BEAN (Pfiaseolus vulgaris var. nanus), BUSH, SNAP, OR KIDNEY. 



An indispensable vegetable, of easy cultivation, grow- 

 ing freely in almost any soil, though in well-enriched 

 land it will be more prolific in quantity and more tender 

 in quality. It is a plant of tropical origin, and, like all 

 such, should not be sown until the weather is settled and 

 warm, and all danger from frost is past. In this latitude, 

 the time of sowing should not be sooner than the fifth of 

 May. Sow at intervals of two or three weeks all through 

 the season, if wanted for use. Seed may be sown in drills 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches apart, and three inches 

 deep, dropping the seeds at distances of two or three 

 inches in the drills, and covering to the general level. 

 For such as use them all through the season, three or 

 four quarts would be required, although a quart at one 

 sowing would give an ample quantity for any average 

 family. The varieties most in use at present are Red 

 Valentine, Early Mohawk, Yellow Six Weeks, Refugee, 

 White Marrowfat, Black Wax, and Golden Wax. 



BEAN, POLE OR RUNNING, AND LIMA (Fliaseolus lunatus). 



Pole Beans are usually cultivated in hills three or four 

 feet apart. The poles (which are best made of young 

 cedar trees) should be nine or ten feet high, and firmly 

 fixed at least eighteen inches deep in the ground, and the 

 hills formed around them by digging up the soil and 

 mixing it with a shovelful of well-rotted manure, or an 

 ounce or so of guano or bone-dust, if the stable manure 

 is not attainable ; but in either case let the mixing be 

 thorough. The hills should be but two or three inches 

 above the general level, and at least eighteen inches in 



