DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



35 



and at the Michigan Station it was held to be identical 

 with Golden Cluster except for the reddish brown color 

 of the seeds which were very broad and plump. 



White Zulu. Refs. 47. 59, 67, 85. This variety 

 was grown to a limited extent for a decade or so after 

 1888, when it was introduced by Burpee. It is merely 

 a slight variation of Black Scimitar with greenish 

 yellow pods which later become almost white with a 

 faint violet shading and which are broader and more 

 fleshy than the original. 



Yellow-Podded White. Refs. 97, 98. This 

 variety was introduced by Gregory in 1882 and was 

 grown at Geneva the same year. It did not do well in 

 the Station tests, but Gregory says its pods were as 

 long as those of Giant Wax and that it exceeded the 

 variety in earliness and productivity. 



Plant low climbing. Flowers white. Pods 5?4 to 6 3 4 inches 

 long, rather flat, curved, somewhat swollen by beans, yellow. Seeds 

 oblong kidney-shaped, strongly flattened sidewise, sometimes 

 slightly compressed at ends, D s inch long, half as wide, hardly 

 one-third as thick, white, veiny. 



THE DWARF VARIETIES OF GARDEN BEANS 

 The dwarf varieties of garden beans are further 

 divided into the green pods and wax pods. The color 

 of the pod seems to be the only clear separatory character 

 to use for a grouping of the varieties in this section. 

 The next natural division would be into flat pods and 

 round pods, but there are many varieties with pods 

 that are intermediate between flat and round and some 

 with pods which appear flat when small but which are 

 quite round as the seed develops. 



This group, so far as the habit of growth and plant 

 characters are concerned, could also include those varie- 

 ties found in the section on horticultural and field beans. 

 However, they have been separated here in a general 

 way according to the method of using, either snap beans, 

 shell beans, or dry beans. The dwarf varieties of garden 

 beans, as here considered, are those varieties grown fcr 

 the pods which are cooked when young or at the stage of 

 maturity when they can rightly be called snap beans. 



The increase in the number of bean varieties has 

 been largely a development of the last ICO years. Many 

 of our well-known varieties, such as Dwarf Caseknife, 

 Dwarf Cranberry, Red Valentine, Refugee, Dwarf 

 Indian Chief, and York Dwarf Wax, have been known 

 for 100 years or more, but their origin is unknown. 

 From 1865 to 1890 many of the new varieties introduced 

 were brought in from France, England, and Germany. 

 Flageolet, Fullmer, Longfellow, and Matchless are 

 representative of this group. During the next 20 years 

 many new varieties, including practically all of the better 

 ones grown today, were introduced by growers and 

 breeders in this country. The new varieties have 

 represented improvement in vigor, disease resistance, 

 pod color, pod length, straightness of pod, and quality. 

 Apparently most of the older varieties produced pods 

 that were stringy and it was not until 1894 that N. B. 

 Keeney found what he considered to be the first abso- 

 lutely stringless green podded variety. This was named 

 Burpee's Stringless Green Pod. There now are strains 



of Red Valentine, Black Valentine, and Refugee with 

 pods which ere stringless. Quality has been greatly 

 improved for the wax pods as well as the green pods. 

 Bountiful, Full Measure, Burpee's Stringless Green 

 Pod, Giant Stringless Green Pod, Tendergreen, Pencil 

 Pod, Brittle Wax, Kidney Wax, and Sure Crop are 

 varieties introduced within the last 30 years. These 

 are truly stringless sorts and, together with the stringless 

 strains of the varieties mentioned above, constitute a 

 list of the most commonly grown and suitable beans for 

 snap pods. 



GREEN PODS 



Abundance. Refs. 51. Syn. Dwarf Abundance. 

 This variety was introduced to American growers by 

 Grey in 1916; the seed came from Vilmorin who first 

 sponsored the variety in 1908. As grown at Geneva it 

 proved to be a mid-season variety, 55 days, seven days 

 later than Black Valentine. It is very productive with 

 long, slender pods stringless only in very early stages; 

 of little value except as a forcing or early shell variety. 



Plant 1 to Irs feet tall, erect, vigorous. Foliage dense, dark 

 green, smooth; leaflets very large, 5 3 4 inches long, nearly 4 inches 

 wide, long, broadly taper pointed. Flowers lilac. Pods 6 to 6 3 i 

 inches long, ' •_> inch wide, broadly ovate in cross-section, straight, 

 with tapering, pointed end and long, slender, straight tip: color 

 rather distinctive, mingled dark and light green. Seeds 4 to 5, 

 about 75 to the ounce, cylindrical to long kidney, flattened, with 

 rounded ends, deep carmine violet in color. 



Asgrow Valentine. This is a new bean of recent 

 introduction coming from a cross between Pencil Pod 

 (wax) and Black Valentine. The Associated Seed 

 Growers, Inc., are the sponsors for this new variety 

 which came from their breeding grounds at Filer, 

 Idaho, in 1930. The improvement as here offered is 

 due to the elimination of the stringy character from 

 Black Valentine. The pods of Asgrow are without 

 string and equally early in season with Black Valentine. 



Plants are practically identical with those of the old type 

 Black Valentine; pods long, 6-7j^ inches, quite straight thick or 

 oval in shape, entirely stringless, with some fiber, meaty and fine 

 texture. Seeds jet black and identical in size and shape to those 

 of Black Valentine. 



Barbes. Refs. 47, 93, 94. A French variety, 

 originated in the Midi and introduced about 1889, 

 which is almost identical with Hundredfold, but with 

 rather larger, lighter -colored seeds, and with more 

 distinct eye-ring. It was also considered more vigorous 

 and more productive. 



Barteldes Stringless Green Pod. This variety is 

 distinctly different from all other stringless green pods. 

 It was offered for the second time by Barteldes in 1912 

 and originated some time before that date with a market 

 gardener near Ottumwa, Kansas. It is very early, 

 47 days, in season with Burpee's Stringless Green Pod, 

 not especially productive, pods rather short but fleshy, 

 brittle, stringless, fiberless and fine textured; somewhat 

 similar in general characters to Canadian Glory. 



Plant very dwarf, about 10 inches tall, erect, with compara- 

 tively few branches, runnerless. Foliage very dark green, somewhat 

 glossy; leaflets 3 to 3 ' ■> inches long, 2U to 2' 4 ' inches wide, widest 

 very near base, tapering to slightly rounding edges, rather sharp 

 points. Flowers blush pink. Pods 43 2 to 4 J 4 inches long, broad- 



