CHAPTER NINE 

 PULSE CROP PROJECTS 



Bean, Pea 



The bean and pea are closely related botanically, though they 

 differ very greatly in cultural requirements. The bean is tender 

 to frost while the pea stands very hard frosts or even severe freez- 

 ing under certain conditions. Some types of beans, as the lima, 

 must have a long, warm season, while the pea is a cool, short- 

 season crop. 



Project XVI. Growing Beans 



Beans belong to "what is known as the pea or pulse family. 

 "Legume" is also a popular name for members of this family. 

 The importance of this family agriculturally is probably greater 

 than any other except the grass family. Here belong, in addition 

 to beans and peas, clover, alfalfa, vetch, cowpea, soybean, and 

 peanut. About 10,000 species belong to this family, of which 

 about two fifths are American, distributed both in temperate 

 and tropical regions. The common or kidney bean is believed 

 to be a native of tropical America. 



The genus to which the kidney bean belongs includes also the 

 lima bean and the scarlet runner bean. The broad bean, soy- 

 bean, and a number of other beans do not belong to this genus. 



The beans are seeds and are produced in fruits commonly called 

 pods. There are both 'green-podded and wax-podded varieties. 

 The pods are made up of two valves which separate along both 

 lines or edges at maturity. Stringiness of the pods of string or 

 snap beans is due to tough fibers which develop along the unions 



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