HORSE BEAN. 



131 



and curling of the early ripe pods because of which the yield of seed 

 is always relatively small. The high price of commercial seed makes 

 -this desirable plant unpopular as a fodder crop. 



Seed: The seeds are somewhat smaller than those of Common 

 Vetch, round, not flattened, varying in colour from dark brown to 

 greyish black. 



HORSE BEAN {Faba vulgaris Moench.) 



Botanical description: Horse Bean is an annual plant which 

 generally reaches a height of from two to three feet. It grows strictly 

 upright and is neither winding like beans nor climbing like peas 

 and vetches. The leaves are composed of from one to three pairs 

 of large broad leaflets. They have no tendrils. The flowers are 

 borne in clusters, two to five together. They are large and showy, 

 white with two large deep purple or black spots. The pods, which 

 are sometimes as much as five inches long, enclose five or six large 

 seeds separated from each other by a soft, spongy tissue. 



History: Horse Bean is an old agricultural plant, the origin of 

 which is not known. It is said to be a native of Persia but the 

 evidence is not conclusive. It was grown in central Europe thou- 

 sands of years before the Christian era, and large quantities of seed 

 have been found in excavations at Troy. It is still of some import- 

 ance in southern and central Europe, England and Egypt, but is 

 being gradually replaced by other legumes. 



Varieties : There are a number of varieties, chiefly distinguished 

 from one another by the size of the seeds. 



Agricultural value: Horse Bean was grown by the old Greeks 

 and Romans and the seeds were used to make bread, cakes and por- 

 ridge. In those parts of Europe where its cultivation is of some 

 importance it is still used for human food as well as for fodder. In 

 Canada it is principally valuable as a cover crop in young orchards, 

 where, when sown in summer, it uses up the soil moisture and thus 

 checks the late growth of fruit-tree wood and forces the spring growth 

 to ripen before serious danger from frost. Being a nitrogen gatherer 

 it also enriches the soil, and although it is killed by autumn frosts 

 the stalks help to retain the snow. 



Seed: In some varieties the seeds are almost three-quarters of 

 an inch long and half an inch broad, flat with a deep scar at one end. 

 They are generally reddish-brown. 



