DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



25 



proportionately narrower and with ends more unequal. Color 

 yellowish brown, with darker eye-ring. 



Jordan Self-Drier. Dr. Jordan of southeastern 

 Pennsylvania obtained seed of a pole bean from a 

 German farmer near Schellsburg, Bedford Co., Pa., 

 about 1921. After several years' trial it was introduced 

 by Schell. It continues to be listed only by the intro- 

 ducer and is too late in season to be of much value in the 

 North. The introducer states the pods are so stringless 

 and fiberless that the dried pods can be utilized during 

 the winter as a substitute for snap beans. The green 

 shell beans are too small for general favor, but the dry 

 beans are excellent. 



Plants vigorous, dark green, productive, very much like 

 Lazy Wife, but much later, with broader, rather shorter pods, 

 broad-oval in cross-section, slightly curved and sometimes curved 

 forward instead of backward. Seeds almost perfectly globular, 

 with very glossy surface, often decidedly wrinkled, ivory white, 

 about 80 to the ounce. 



Kentucky Wonder. Refs. 11, 29, 36, 47, 48, 52, 



58. 59, 67, 68, 77, 85, 91, 97, 98, 99. Syns. American 

 Sickle Pole, Eastern Wonder, Egg Harbor, Georgia 

 Monstrous Pole, Improved Southern Prolific, Missouri 

 Prolific, Old Homestead Pole, Texas Pole. This most 

 popular pole variety has probably been grown in the 

 South for three-quarters of a century, but was first 

 mentioned in the Country Gentleman of 1864 under 

 the name of Texas Pole which is one of its present-day 

 synonyms. James J. H. Gregory & Sons introduced 

 the name Kentucky Wonder in 1877 and as such or as 

 one of its numerous synonyms it has been by far the 

 most popular pole bean grown. In 1901 it was found 

 listed 214 times in trade lists and 20 years later 287 times 

 under 27 different names or nomenclatural combinations. 

 Kentucky Wonder as a type was unknown to 

 Martens, although he received seeds of many other 

 Southern pole beans. It does not appear in available 

 German catalogs, but has been grown and described 

 in both England and France. The name which this 

 variety enjoys and its early introduction have given 

 Kentucky Wonder a standing that has become a " habit " 

 to home gardeners. The performance of the variety 

 merits this popularity for it is relatively early, hardy, 

 of good productivity over a rather short season, and has 

 large, fleshy, stringless, fiberless pods of excellent flavor. 

 In season it belongs in the early group, the first pods 

 being ready in 64 days at Geneva. The pods of Ken- 

 tucky Wonder are easily identified by the peculiarly 

 wrinkled surface and their great length. This wrinkling 

 of surface is also a characteristic of Tennessee Wonder, 

 but the pods of this variety are larger and show a purplish 

 tinge and the seeds instead of a solid brown color are 

 slate gray with strips of black olive. 



Plant small to medium in size; 4} i feet or more tall with 

 spread of about 1?4 feet at base; of good climbing habit but rather 

 open in growth; vigor not more than moderate, rather short bearing 

 period and yield only fair. Stem slender, internodes long; branches 

 few, green thruout. Foliage scanty, dark green, dull, rough, 

 crumpled, medium veining, of medium thickness; leaflets 3?4 inches 

 long by 3 J 4 inches wide, greatest width near base or one-fourth the 

 distance from it, laterals very one-sided, margins curving smoothly 

 to bases but almost straight to short, obscure tips. Flowers white. 



Pods light silvery green in color. Quality good; slightly 

 stringy, fiberless, brittle, tender, and of rather coarse texture. 

 Size long, broad and plump, |7 9 x ' j x :i s ",s inches), and contain- 

 ing 8-10 seeds per pod. Shape round broad oval, much curved, 

 somewhat S-shaped, crease-backed, constricted, not crowded, 

 wrinkled, rough, filled to the tip and edge, and blunt to somewhat 

 rounded end. Spur short, medium slender, slightly curved. 



Seeds medium 1.6 x .65 x .5 cm., (80-85 per oz.), broad oblong, 

 occasionally somewhat reniform, somewhat flattened; long oval in 

 cross-section; ends rounded. Hilum medium large, slightly indented. 

 Color buffy brown (saccardo's umber) marked with very indistinct 

 vein-like pattern of a darker shade over the entire surface; dark red 

 to mahogany brown (burnt sienna) narrow eye-ring present in all 

 cases. 



Lazy Wife. Refs. 32, 47, 48, 52, 56, 59, 63, 91, 



93, 94, 97, 98. Syns. White Cranberry, Sophie, Mary- 

 land White Pole, White Cherry. Maule in 1894 says 

 Lazy Wife originated in Bucks Co., Pa., but it was 

 probably brought there by German settlers. When 

 comparison is possible it corresponds in every way with 

 Martens Sophie bean, which he says was noted by Savi 

 in 1822 as San Domingo bean; and Tracy says the 

 variety was known in America as early as 1810 as White 

 Cherry Pole or White Cranberry Pole. In France the 

 type is known as Coco Blanc. Irish describes Sophie 

 but evidently this was only a semi-climbing type. Its 

 maximum height is given as from 3 to 4 feet. It is of 

 equal value in the home garden as a snap or green shell 

 bean and is also a good late variety for the market. 

 At Geneva it produced its pods very late, 80 days from 

 time of planting, about the same in season as Ward's 

 Prolific and about one week later than Southern Corn- 

 field and one week earlier than Georgian Pole. As a 

 late snap pole bean it is excelled in quality by Scotia 

 and Black-Seeded Kentucky Wonder, but as a shell 

 bean it is probably unsurpassed. 



Plant large, 4 J 2 feet tall and more with spread at base of 

 plant of 1?4 feet; noticeably a poor climber while getting started 

 but later often classed as a rank grower, compact, moderately 

 vigorous, of long bearing period, productive; thick stemmed, much 

 branched, wholly green. Foliage very abundant, medium green; 

 leaf surface, glossy, smooth, crumpled, thick; leaflets large, more 

 than 5 inches long, 3J^ to 4 inches wide at about one-fourth the 

 distance from the base, well rounded to stem, straight sided, taper- 

 ing to medium long tip. Flowers white. 



Pods dark to medium, glossy green in color. Quality good; 

 fairly fleshy, stringless, almost fiberless, brittle and fine in texture. 

 Size medium to long, broad and slender, (5 1 3-6 x 5g~ 3 4. x ?s inches), 

 containing 5-7 seeds per pod. Shape flat, ovate-acute in cross- 

 section, straight to very slightly curved, straight backed, much 

 constricted, smooth, filled to the tip and edge and abruptly rounded 

 on the end. Spur long, medium slender, somewhat tapering, and 

 straight. Suture placental is flat and carpellary decidedly acute. 

 Seeds small, 1.1 x .9 x .8 cm., (70-80 per oz. I; spheroidal, very 

 thick, nearly cylindrical in cross-section, very plump; ends well 

 rounded. Hilum small, rounded. Color ivory white, marked with 

 a distinct, grayish, vein-like under pattern over the entire surface. 



McCaslan. Refs. 52. This variety was for many 

 years in the possession of the McCasland family in 

 Georgia and on the death of Mr. McCasland the stock 

 seed was turned over to Hastings who first offered 

 seed for sale in 1912. This variety is grown chiefly 

 in the South where popular usage has shortened the name 

 to McCaslan. Apparently it is an earlier type of 



