STUDIES ON BEAN BREEDING. 167 



THE STANDARD TYPE OF THE IMPROVED YELLOW EYE. 



There are certain points in regard to these beans upon which 

 the dealers lay great stress and other points to which they pay 

 relatively little attention. In the next few paragraphs it is 

 proposed to point out those characters which the Standard 

 Improved Yellow Eye bean must possess. At the same time 

 will be indicated those characters to which the buyers pay less 

 attention. 



Sise and Shape. The Improved Yellow Eye bean should be 

 of medium large to large size. Its length should be a little 

 less than f of an inch. It must be proportionately broad, giv- 

 ing a plump appearance. Its width should be a little more 

 than half the total length. The typical bean should be rounded 

 at each end. It should have the same thickness at each end, 

 or in other words it should not taper (Cf. Fig. 36). It should 

 be straight at the eye. 



Of these characters the one to which the dealers pay most 

 attention is size and plumpness. There is no market for a 

 small bean of this type, nor for a long and narrow bean. Such 

 types should not be grown. Other characters such as shape 

 of the ends and at the eye, etc., are not usually discriminated 

 against. Yet in the interest of uniformity breeders will do well 

 to aim to produce the type given above. 



Ground Color. Outside of the "eye" the color should be a 

 clear opaque white without any tinge of yellow. This, next to 

 size and plumpness is the most important character. Beans 

 with a yellowish dirty tinge in the white portion invariably 

 bring less in the market than beans with a good clear white. 

 Such yellowish tinge may result either from the actual pres- 

 ence of creamy pigment in the seed coat, or from a too trans- 

 parent seed coat which allows the color of the cotyledons to 

 show through. Whatever the cause, anything but a pure 

 opaque white is discriminated against in the market and should 

 be by the grower. 



Eye Pattern and Color. The "eye" (i. e., the pigmented 

 portion about the hilum or true eye) should be large and should 

 cover about one-fourth the area of the bean. A bean of the 

 proper shape when viewed from on top should show a very 

 narrow margin of white on all sides of the eye with the possible 



