48 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



wide, quite unequal sided. Side of mid-vein nearest terminal 

 leaflet nearly twice as wide as far side, base is angled, mid-vein 

 angled toward terminal leaflet, giving leaf quite an odd shape, 

 sometimes described as rolled backwards; tips short, wide. Flowers 

 phlox purple, the upper part or back of the " Standard " very dark 

 purple black. 



Pods borne both intermediate and below the foliage: dark dull 

 greenish purple in color. Quality good, brittle, fleshy, occasionally 

 somewhat stringy, and fine in texture. Size long, broad, and 

 rather slender 6-6 '_■ x s t x '4- A inches), containing 5-6 seeds 

 per pod. Shape flat, elliptical in cross-section, straight, straight 

 backed, regular, not crowded, smooth, filled to the tip and edge and 

 rounded on the end. Spur long, slender and straight. Suture, 

 placental flat to slightly indented and carpellary, acute. 



Seeds medium, 1.4 x .7 x .45 cm, (105 per oz.), oval to occasion- 

 ally sub-reniform, oval in cross-section, somewhat flattened to 

 fairly plump; one end rounded and the other somewhat truncate. 

 Hilum medium, flattened. Color light buff 'pale pinkish buff) 

 over entire surface marked with a rather prominent, darker shaded, 

 vein-like under pattern and a narrow two-toned tawny yellow 

 (tawny) eye-ring. 



Rachel. Refs. 47, 56, 97, 98. This old bean is 

 supposedly of American origin. It was included in 

 the trials at Geneva in 1882 but has not been listed in 

 American catalogs during the present century, nor was 

 it described by Tracy or Jarvis, tho included by Irish. 



Plant 1 to 1' 4 feet tall, vigorous, making compact bush; 

 foliage abundant, light or yellowish green; leaflets 3 to 3'_> inches 

 long, 2 ' _> to 3 wide, not wrinkled. Flowers white or faintly blushed. 

 Pods 4'_> to 5 ] 4 inches long, nearly '_> inch wide, oval in cross- 

 section, somewhat swollen by beans, straight or nearly so, quite 

 blunt at ends, with short, slender curved tips from dorsal edges, 

 green, occasionally lightly streaked violet. Seeds oblong or kidney- 

 shaped, slightly more than } > inch long, more than half as wide 

 and nearly as thick as wide, dark chocolate brown nearly covering 

 bean, with small, irregular whitish area on end toward point of 

 pod, usually less than one-eighth surface. 



Reliance. Refs. 48, 51, 53. Sutton introduced 

 Reliance in 1903; it was given an Award of Merit the 

 same year by the Royal Horticultural Society, and 

 considered by them to be an improvement over Ne Plus 

 Ultra. 



Plant very vigorous, hardy, quite disease-resistant, early. 

 and moderately productive. Pods large, 5}o to 6 inches long, 

 slender, ovate in cross-section, straight, with pointed ends and 

 prominent tip, attractive, light green, stringy, tough but fine- 

 grained and of fair quality. Seeds 6-7, oblong ? s i nc h long, half 

 as wide, often truncate, nearly circular in cross-section, olive yellow, 

 with darker eye-ring. 



Red Flageolet. Refs. 47, 53, 97, 98. This old 

 French variety is almost indistinguishable from Canadian 

 Wonder but its seeds are slightly lighter in color, smaller 

 and relatively greater in length. The varieties, however, 

 are undoubtedly of distinct origin. Red Flageolet in 

 France, where it is most grown, is prized mostly for 

 green shell beans; but it is equally useful with Canadian 

 Wonder as an early snap bean. The seeds vary con- 

 siderably in color, which, as well as the popular mis- 

 conceptions of the colors, crimson, scarlet, and red, 

 accounts for the many synonyms of the variety. 



Red Valentine. Refs. 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 



20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 38, 41, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 55, 57. 

 58, 61, 63, 66, 67, 68, 80, 81, 84. 87, 91. Syns. Early 

 Speckled Red Valentine, Early Wonder Red Valentine, 

 Lightning Early Red Valentine, and over 50 other , 



names differing in the arrangement of the adjectives 

 early, extra early, improved, red, red speckled and round 

 podded. 



Valentine is an American variety known at least 

 since 1832, for it was then cataloged by Landreth's as 

 Extra Early Red Valentine. It was reported as originat- 

 ing near Philadelphia; but Burr, in 1863, says it had 

 " long been grown in England and other parts of Europe 

 and was common to gardens in almost every section of 

 the United States. Denaiffe reports it as an " old 

 American variety introduced into France in 1889." 

 It was probably flat podded and stringy in its early 

 days, but by Burr's time its pods were " almost cyl- 

 indrical," tender and very fleshy, remaining long on the 

 plants without becoming hard and tough. To main- 

 tain and, possibly, to improve the variety has been the 

 constant aim of breeders; and their steps toward these 

 ends, often merely sidewise rather than forward, have 

 resulted in the multiplicity of synonyms shown in our 

 references, and nearly as many more combinations have 

 been omitted. So varied are the listings that it is 

 exceedingly difficult to say how many seedsmen offer 

 the variety, but it is undoubtedly as in Burr's day and 

 in Tracy's one of the most popular garden beans, tho 

 far less grown for market than Black Valentine. Varie- 

 ties with larger pods and better quality have gradually 

 replaced Red Valentine notable Burpee's Stringless 

 Green Pod, Full Measure, Giant Stringless Green Pod, 

 and Bountiful. 



There have been and are many strains of Red 

 Valentine that are favored in certain sections, Improved 

 Early Red Valentine i Hopkins I has long been popular. 

 Landreth introduced in 1930 a new stringless strain as 

 Landreth's Extra Early Stringless Red Valentine, a full 

 description of which occurs in the 1931 catalog. Red 

 Valentine has long been a favorite for growing in the 

 Southern States owing to its hardiness and good keeping 

 quality which factor makes it a suitable bean for shipping 

 long distances. It is a very reliable sort, making a crop 

 under quite adverse conditions on all soil types. The 

 pods are produced in clusters and held up well off the 

 ground. It was formerly used to some extent in canning, 

 but since the pods pass thru the canning stage rather 

 quickly, with the seeds taking size rapidly, it has been 

 replaced by the newer varieties. The pods are rather 

 too short and too much curved for best market garden 

 use. 



At Geneva it was a second early, the pods were 

 pickable in from 49 to 52 days. This makes Red 

 Valentine about 3 days later than Stringless Greenpod or 

 Bountiful and the same in season as Full Measure and 

 Early Refugee. It was less productive with us than 

 Refugee or Full Measure; the same in season and useful- 

 ness as Early Refugee, but the pods were more meaty 

 and of better quality; the vines more erect and more 

 open in habit. The plant is smaller than Black Valen- 

 tine, pods are shorter, more curved, but much thicker, 

 more tender, and with less string and parchment. Pods 

 are not so thick as those of Full Measure, but are shorter 

 and more curved. The wide marks or indentations 



