58 



THE VEGETABLES OF NEW YORK 



sub-reniform. plump; ends round, but occasionally truncate. Hilum 

 small, flat. Color jet black, covered with a rather heavy bloom of 

 bluish-black hue, in contrast to the dull solid black bloom of Ger- 

 man Wax. 



Date Wax. Refs. 10, 15, 16, 45, 47, 61, 67, 68, 

 79, 80, 84. A German variety introduced by Gregory 

 as early as 1881, listed by Thorburn in 1886, and grown 

 at Geneva in 1889. It was cultivated in this country 

 until the end of the last century at least, through never 

 as popular as in France, and particularly in Germany, 

 whose seedsmen still list it. It is of the Flageolet Wax 

 or Perfection Wax type, but the seeds are dun colored 

 or yellowish brown, with deep brown eye-ring, large, 

 very broad for their length, almost rectangular in out- 

 line, decidedly flattened. Irish says identical with 

 Long Yellow Six Weeks, but with yellow pods. Denaiffe 

 says pods turned yellow very slowly. 



Davis Wax. Refs. 28, 36, 41, 47, 48, 49, 77, 91. 

 Syns. Elgin White Wax, Improved Davis White Wax, 

 Prolific Everbearing Wax, Tait's White Wax, Ventura 

 Wonder Wax. This bean originated with Eugene Davis, 

 Grand Rapids, Mich., and was introduced in 1895, by 

 Ferry, Maule, and others, and by Burpee the following 

 year. Rice, in 1931, introduced a new strain purporting 

 to be stringless. Davis Wax, though of rather poor 

 quality for home garden use, nevertheless has been one 

 of the most widely grown sorts. Over 70 listings in 

 leading catalogs were found in 1931. This great demand 

 has been due to earliness and the beauty of the pods 

 which are long, straight, uniform, and of an attractive 

 light yellow color. If the new stringless strain holds up as 

 such this variety should again become a leading sort. 

 It is essentially a market garden variety to be grown for 

 shipment to distant markets. It is early, 48 days 

 at Geneva, a few days later than Challenge Wax, in 

 season with Curries or Sure Crop, and a few days earlier 

 than Refugee Wax or Pencil Pod. Since this is one of our 

 oldest varieties and one that has been a leading sort for 

 nearly 40 years, it is to be expected that the variety 

 would be offered under several names. During the many 

 years of testing all strains have proved to be essentially 

 identical; though Prolific Everbearing Wax gave rather 

 taller plants, with very coarse foliage, darker in color, 

 pods slightly longer, and seeds perhaps a little smaller. 

 Improved Davis White Wax was somewhat earlier, 

 with smaller plants and foliage, and rather smaller, 

 more uniform, plumper pods, but by no means stringless 

 as claimed. Davis Wax, except in color of seed, is most 

 like Currie Wax, the plant is larger, and the branches 

 green throughout, whereas the plants of Currie have a 

 purple tinge at the nodes, and the pods are longer and 

 flatter. 



Plant small to medium, 10 to 14 inches high with spread of 

 12 to 14 inches; stocky, erect, compact, runnerless but with a few 

 flower spikes showing above foliage; vigor fair to good, moderately 

 productive with short bearing period. Stems stout, round, ridged, 

 short internodes; branches few, wholly green. Foliage medium 

 to abundant, medium green, darker in some strains, almost glossy, 

 but rough and somewhat crumpled, medium thickness; leaflets 3 s 4 

 inches long, 2-2 3 4 inches wide, widest about one-third from base, 

 quite generally rounded to stem, slightly curving with taper to 

 rather short full tip. Flowers white. 



Pods borne intermediate; light to medium dull yellow in 

 color. Quality poor; tough, very stringy and fibrous, not very 

 meaty and rather coarse in texture. Size medium to long, broad 

 and medium thin (5-6 x '-jx^ inchesl, containing 6-7 seeds per 

 pod. Shape flat, ovate in cross-section, straight, straightbacked, 

 regular, rather crowded, smooth, filled to the tip and edge and 

 rounded at the end. Spur long, stiff, thick, straight and quite 

 green in color. Suture, placental is rounded and carpellary, acute. 



Seeds medium to large, 1.6 x .7 X .6 cm. 165-75 per oz.), 

 reniform, plump; well rounded ends. Hilum small, protuberant. 

 Color chalky white, thru which shows grayish vein-like markings 

 over entire surface; marked with indistinct, yellowish, narrow 

 eye-ring. 



Delicious. There were two varieties with this name, 

 the earlier one having been introduced by Isbell in 

 1912. It was similar in habit to Brittle Wax with per- 

 fectly round, fleshy pods similar to those of Pencil Pod 

 but with pure white seed with yellowish brown eye- 

 ring. In 1917, due to crop failure, the planting stock 

 was lost and the variety discontinued. 



The second wax bean to bear the name Delicious 

 was introduced in 1928 by Landreth and is a variety 

 seemingly with considerable merit. It originated as a 

 sport of Burpee's Stringless Green Pod and was selected 

 in 1922 by the Superintendent at their Filer, Idaho, 

 growing station. Careful selection has fixed the type. 

 It was listed by three seedsmen in 1931. Probable 

 use is similar to that of Improved Golden Wax, a home 

 garden variety of good quality. Season, 50 days, in 

 season with Golden Wax, 2 or 3 days later than Currie 

 Wax and Sure Crop. While the plant is noticeable for 

 the small foliage, it is very unlike Refugee in plant char- 

 acters. The pods are round to oval but much shorter 

 than other round pod sorts, being somewhat between 

 Golden Wax and Currie Wax in length. The seed is 

 similar in shape and color to Burpee Stringless Green 

 Pod. 



Plant medium, 14 to 16 inches tall with spread of 14 inches; 

 erect, compact, runnerless; vigor good with yield moderate, bearing 

 period only medium. Stem stout, branches few and green thruout. 

 Foliage medium to abundant, dark green, with surface rough, 

 crumpled, dull, thick; leaflets rather small, widest at midpoint, 

 quite rounded. Flowers lilac. 



Pods borne intermediate among the foliage; light, medium 

 dull yellow in color. Quality good; stringless, almost fiberless, 

 brittle and fairly fine in texture. Size medium long, broad, 

 and quite plump 4 ] 2 — 5 ' 2 " ''s^'-i * 3 s inches) containing 4—5 

 seeds per pod. Shape round, oval in cross-section, straight to 

 somewhat curved, creasebacked, regular to somewhat constricted, 

 not crowded, smooth, filled to the tip and edge and rounded at 

 the end. Spur long, medium thick and slightly curved. Suture, 

 placental is slightly indented and carpellary, obtuse. 



Seeds medium, 1.5 x .8 x .6 cm. (67-70 per oz.), oblong oval, 

 plump to somewhat flattened, ends quite uniformly rounded. 

 Hilum small, slightly protuberant. Color dark auburn brown 

 1 mars brown to chestnut brown) over the entire surface blending 

 into a darker shade on the hilar surface; marked with a narrow dark 

 brownish black eye-ring. 



Detroit Wax. Refs. 14, 16, 41, 47, 48, 49, 67, 

 68, 84, 85, 91, 96. Ferry introduced Detroit Wax in 

 1885, probably as a selection from Golden Wax. It was 

 quite popular for a time, having been listed by about 

 40 seedsmen in 1901. 



Plants practically identical with those of Golden Wax, but 

 in our tests distinctly shorter and branching very low; foliage 



