DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



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prized. In France and Germany Southern Prolific was 

 known as Don Carlos and considered a very vigorous 

 grower with pods fleshy and very tender. Soon after 

 1900 the variety began to degenerate or similar seed of 

 other varieties or strains became mixed with the true 

 stock, so that at the beginning of this century it had 

 become almost wholly of two types, both different from 

 the old variety, and greatly inferior to it. 



Plant large, good climber, thick stemmed, often purplish 

 at nodes; foliage abundant, dark green; leaflets small to medium, 

 smooth, thin. Flowers white. Pods, the old, valuable type had 

 slightly curved pods about 4?-4 or 5 inches long, very blunt-ended 

 and with very short tips, decidedly oblate and indented on both 

 ventrum and dorsum, so fleshy that only slight constrictions showed 

 between the beans, brittle and excellent as snaps. The undesirable 

 types were two, — one short-podded, of about the same length as 

 the desirable type, but with more pointed ends and longer tips, 

 thin-walled and much constricted between the beans, stringy and 

 fibrous, of very poor quality; the second type had flat, very evenly 

 curved pods, one-third to nearly one-half longer than the short- 

 podded ones, with long-pointed ends and long tips, somewhat zig- 

 zagged by swellings on opposite sides of pod over alternate beans, 

 narrow oval in cross-section, not fleshy, stringy, fibrous and of 

 poor quality. 



Seeds small, about 135 to the ounce, short broad-oval, about 

 J i inch long, very rarely } 2 inch, more than half as wide, with very 

 short-rounded ends, not truncate, usually dark fawn changing to 

 dark browTi or burnt umber, without eye-ring. 



Swiss Crimson. Refs. 13. Syns. Scarlet Swiss. 

 Burr described this variety and seeds were exhibited 

 before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1864. 

 The variety is no longer known but seems to have been 

 a vigorous grower often listed with bush sorts. The 

 plant produced runners and so was considered to have 

 been a climber. It was grown chiefly as a greenshell 

 variety, the large long beans at that stage being bright 

 pink, striped and spotted deep purplish red, changing 

 soon to dark purplish red and brown. Flowers lilac. 



Tennessee Wonder. Refs. 48, 91. Syns. Brown 

 Sickle, Holme's Improved Sickle. Landreth introduced 

 Tennessee Wonder sometime before 1901. The type, 

 however, is much older, for Martens described a variety, 

 with figure, which is exceedingly similar, if not identical, 

 and states further that the type was known to Savi. 

 Martens had secured seed from Louisiana and from 

 Chile which differed but little from the lot he described. 

 Burr described a variety called Mottled Prolific which 

 was similar in many ways but distinct from Martens' 

 variety. The color of the pods, leaves, and stems is the 

 same as for Scotia, but in other respects the varieties 

 are different. The pods are larger and straighter than 

 Kentucky Wonder pods, also later in season. It has 

 been said that pods of Tennessee Wonder are the largest, 

 straightest, and most handsome of all cultivated beans. 



Plant rather small, slender stemmed, moderately branched, 

 climbing well, with purplish shading on stems, branches, foliage 

 and pods; leaflets quite large, almost as broad as long, more rounded 

 than those of Kentucky Wonder. Flowers pink. 



Pods light green in color. Quality fair to good; brittle, 

 tender, nearly stringless and fiberless but coarse in texture. Size 

 long, moderately broad and plump (6—8 x 5s inches) and contain- 

 ing 8-9 seeds per pod. Shape round, very broad, oval to double- 

 barrelled in cross-section, deeply creasebacked, moderately scimitar 

 shaped, much constricted, not crowded, rough surfaced, filled to the 



tip and edge and pointed on the end. Spur long, moderately stout 

 and curved. Suture, both placental and carpellary are rather 

 deeply indented. 



Seeds medium to large, 1.7 x .65 x .55 cm. (65-70 per oz.); 

 long reniform, plump, occasionally slightly twisted; ends rounded. 

 Hilum medium, indented. Color quite similar to Scotia although 

 it is a somewhat darker combination of (mouse gray) and ipale 

 pinkish buff) blended into a very fine mottling over the entire surface. 

 It is marked with long and curved streaks of dull black, usually on 

 the hilar and dorsal surfaces although occasionally on the sides as 

 well, and a moderately broad, black eye-ring. As the seed ages, 

 the gray is very largely displaced by a dull tawny (russet ) color. 



Thuringen. Refs. 28, 47. Syns. Grand Sword 

 Giant, Japan Giant Butter. This variety was tested 

 at the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1900 but was not 

 grown commercially in America. It was apparently 

 well known and was described in France but little grown 

 as the beauty of its pods was not enough to counter- 

 balance rather poor yields and lateness. In Germany it 

 was said to be fairly early and very productive. 



Plant a low climber, with light pink blossoms. Pods medium 

 to long, straight, broad, flat but fleshy, short tipped, only slightly 

 swollen by beans, brittle, tender, stringless, fiberless, light green 

 slowly yellowing, handsome. Seeds very large, very broad, very 

 flat with straight eye-side or rarely approaching kidney-shape, 

 yellowish brown becoming light maroon. 



Transylvanian Butter. Refs. 63, 97. This bean 

 was grown at the Geneva Station in 1882 and also in the 

 trials at Kansas in 1889. Gregory secured seed from 

 Germany and introduced the variety to American 

 growers in 1885. It never became a popular sort and 

 was soon dropped from the lists. The chief objection 

 to the variety was its extreme lateness, for unless the 

 season was long the plants were unproductive. 



Plant low-growing; foliage quite abundant, dark green, with 

 small obovate or triangular, short-pointed leaflets. Flowers 

 purplish. Pods short, 3} 2 to 4 inches, very broad, straight or 

 nearly so, almost blunt-ended, with very short, straight dorsal 

 tips, much swollen by seeds, dark green almost entirely covered 

 with dark purple stripes, edible as snaps only in early stages, soon 

 much wrinkled, stringy and fibrous. Seeds 6 or 7, very broad 

 oval, ovate from edge, short-rounded or truncate ends, nearly 

 1 ■> inch long, three-fourths as wide, more than half as thick, pale 

 dirty blue shading to bluish dun. (In Kansas test Cranberry shape, 

 greenish white, when young, clay yellow varrying darker when ripe.) 



True Asparagus. Several " asparagus " beans are 

 known, the name being generally applied to Yard Long, 

 a bean belonging to Vigna sineusis sesquipedalis, 



of a different genus from the common garden beans. 

 The variety here described is grown in the Northwest, 

 but was tested here and seems distinct from others, 

 though somewhat like Kentucky Wonder, to which the 

 name Asparagus Bean is also sometimes given. Thor- 

 burn in 1899 offered a variety called French Asparagus 

 producing round pods from 8 to 12 inches long. This 

 was not the same as the variety known today as French 

 Yard Long. 



Plant and foliage quite similar to those of Kentucky Wonder, 

 but leaflets rather longer due to longer, often curved, rather acute 

 tips. Pods broad oval, more slender than those of the compared 

 variety, shorter with us but very long under favorable conditions, 

 rather longer tipped, well filled, tender, fleshy, with slight string 

 only, fiberless, fine-textured, of good quality. Seeds 7 or 8, much 

 like those of Kentucky Wonder but more drab than brown. 



