DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



65 



may be seen grayish vein-like markings; patterned with shining 

 black, broad, irregular eye-ring. 



King of the Wax. Refs. 87. Introduced the same 

 year, 1896, to French growers by Vilmorin and to 

 American gardeners by Dreer, King of the Wax had 

 rather a short period of popularity, at least in this 

 country. At the time of its introduction it was con- 

 sidered a dual purpose bean, the dry seeds being as 

 well adapted for cooking and baking as the pods were 

 for snaps. 



Plants very much like those of Davis Wax, rather more stocky, 

 very early, pods 4 3 4 to 5 1 _• inches long, ' £ inch wide, nearly round, 

 strongly curved, very fleshy, swollen by beans, stringless and fiber- 

 less, very tender and of fine quality; seeds 4 or 5, almost identical 

 with those of Davis Wax, but slightly broader. 



Lemon Pod. Refs. 80, 81, 98. A variety grown 

 for test at Geneva in 1883, in which year it was intro- 

 duced by Everitt. It was said to be " almost identical 

 with Ivory Pod Wax," under which name Crystal Wax 

 was grown in 1882, but with pods quite distinctly 

 yellow. 



Plant strong, upright, but with many runners 2jo to 3 feet 

 long; foliage irregular in size and color; blossoms large. Pods 

 broad, flat, wavy in outline, very wax-like, beautiful golden color, 

 of best quality. Seeds white, variable in size and shape; late and 

 less productive than Crystal Wax. 



Leopard Wax. Refs. 48, 91. The parent stock for 

 this introduction, made in 1905 by S. F. Leonard, was 

 found in 1904 by an Indiana grower. While the pods 

 were of rather good quality, the variety was never 

 generally accepted as possessing better than average 

 merit. 



Plant very dwarf, under a foot tall, compact, dense until 

 spread by weight of developing pods, runnerless; foliage large, 

 coarse, rough, dark green, flowers blush pink. Pods about 5 ' L > inches 

 long, broad-ovate in cross-section, somewhat curved, broad, with 

 rounded ends and short tips, most like those of Golden Wax but 

 more curved and stockier. Light yellow, brittle, stringless, almost 

 fiberless, of good quality. Seeds large, nearly 1.5 cm. long, % 

 as wide and half as thick, very broad oval with ends unequal, 

 largely dark brown or bluish black with small, irregular whitish 

 areas on one end and as broad along back quite distinct. 



Lima Wax. Refs. 48, 49. The early popu- 

 larity of this variety, originated with Rogers Bros, and 

 introduced by several seedsmen in 1896, was undoubtedly 

 due to the name. This was not based on any essential 

 characters like pods or seeds, but on the fine, glossy 

 foliage and peculiar, small flowers like those of dwarf 

 limas. 



Plant of medium size, slender-stemmed, very spreading, 

 with many short, runner-like branches, often trailing on the ground; 

 foliage fine, stiff, smooth, glossy; leaflets smaller than those of 

 Refugee, but broad in proportion to length. Flowers small, white. 

 Pod short, in shape like those of Burlingame field bean, but with 

 shorter neck, straight, flat, very narrow ovate in cross-section with 

 acuminate ventral edge, unfilled by beans, not fleshy, smooth- 

 surfaced, greenish yellow or medium yellow, stringy, fibrous, rathe 

 tough, only fair quality. Tip very short, centered. Seeds white, 

 ovate, small, about J j, inch long, ] ,j inch wide, and nearly as thick. 



Long D-uarf German Wax. Refs. 97, 98. Syn. 

 Dwarf German Wax. This white-seeded wax bean, 

 grown in the early trials at Geneva and described by 

 Wing, is inseparable in history and synonymy from 

 White Wax. The description shows the plant as taller, 



more branching, with darker green, more curly foliage, 

 slightly longer pods, and longer, much more slender, 

 kidney-shaped beans. These were more than J o inch 

 long, }.[ inch wide, and only slightly flattened, weighing 

 85 to 90 to the ounce. 



Lyonnaise Wax. Refs. 83, 90. This was a French 

 variety evidently quite new when introduced into the 

 United States by Noll in 1902. No detailed descrip- 

 tion has been found, but the wax-podded form was 

 undoubtedly derived from White Lyonnaise and was 

 similar to it in plant and seed. 



Market Wax. Refs. 41, 48, 62. Henderson intro- 

 duced Market Wax in 1902 having secured the seed 

 from a grower in Genesee County, N. Y. In early 

 descriptions it was said to combine the good qualities 

 of Long Yellow Six Weeks with the qualities of a fine, 

 flat-podded wax bean. Since Market Wax is similar 

 in usefulness and value to Wardwell, this variety may 

 have been the other parent. As compared to Ward- 

 well, the pods are straighter, more stringy, and flatter 

 without tendency to recurve, with longer points. The 

 plants are more erect in growth with smaller, lighter- 

 colored leaves. In season, second early, continuing to 

 bear over a long period. 



Pods quite attractive, medium yellow, of fair quality; con- 

 taining when ripe 6 or 7 crowded seeds, rather more than half an 

 inch long, about two-thirds as wide and half as thick, broad oval, 

 oval oblong or ovate in outline, round oval in cross-section with 

 short -rounded ends, sometimes truncate; straw yellow, olive yellow 

 or coppery yellow in color, with darker eye-ring. 



Maule Butter. Refs. 48, 91. This variety should 

 not be confused with Maule's Improved Butter Wax 

 since it is an old variety originated with Keeney and 

 introduced by Maule in 1889. 



Plant dwarf and spreading but runnerless; with foliage of 

 medium size, broad, coarse, crumpled and wrinkled, thick, dark 

 green. Flowers white. Pods about 5 inches long, decidedly 

 curved with neck often bent back, heavy, " double-barrelled," 

 sharply constricted between beans, with very short, thick tips, 

 thick-walled, very brittle, stringless and fiberless, of excellent 

 quality, deep yellow; seeds 5, crowded, practically same size, shape, 

 color and marking as those of Keeney Rustless. 



Michigan White Wax. Refs. 99. This is a strain 

 of White Wax introduced by Ferry in 1907 as an 

 improved strain, being earlier, more productive, and 

 with better shaped pods. The original introducer 

 also compared it with Ferry's Golden Wax, but claimed 

 it superior to that variety in having a larger, more 

 robust plant with heavier foliage and with white seeds. 



Plant erect, with stout stem and very rigid branches, few to 

 medium in number; foliage scanty to medium, dark to medium 

 green, almost glossy, almost smooth medium in thickness; leaflets 

 4x3 inches for the terminals and a half-inch smaller in each dimen- 

 sion for laterals, widest one-fourth distance from base, sides slanting 

 quite uniformly to rather short, sharp point. Flowers white. 



Pods borne intermediate among the foliage; light yellow in 

 color. Quality fair; brittle and stringless for a short time, later 

 becoming tough, rather fibrous and coarse in texture. Size short, 

 medium broad and slender (3?4-4j2 x>2"!i inches), containing 

 5-6 seeds per pod. Shape flat, oval to broad oval in cross-section, 

 slightly to moderately curved, humpbacked, regular, not crowded, 

 smooth, filled to the tip and edge and rounded to truncate on the 

 end. Spur short, thick and moderately curved. Suture, placental 

 is slightly rounded and carpellary, obtuse. 



