DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES 



93 



are shorter, decidedly more plump, and thickened; seeds 

 are thicker; leaflets more narrow, lighter colored, and 

 apparently free from the glossy finish as suggested by 

 Burpee. 



Plant medium to large (14-20 inches), with a spread of 15-18 

 inches. Vigorous, stems quite stout, round. Branches large, 

 coarse, spreading with numerous runners that bear the late crop 

 of beans. Foliage abundant, medium grayish gTeen in color; smooth 

 but not glossy; light veined, very slight amount of pubescence, 

 medium thick; leaflets long and narrow (3J_>-6 inches), nearly 

 lanceolate; quite distinct from Burpee. Petioles medium short. 

 Flowers white, later turning cream colored; borne on short stalks; 

 spikes short. 



Pods borne mostly below the foliage; dark green in color. 

 Size short, wide and plump l2? 4 -3,' L > x 1-1 * 5 x } o inches), con- 

 taining 2— i seeds per pod. Shape moderately flattened, long oval 

 thru cross-section, straight, slightly humpbacked, regular altho 

 occasionally slightly constricted, not crowded, smooth, filled to the 

 tip and nearly to the edge and nearly truncate or square at the end. 

 Spur very short, straight, thick, and pointed — quite inconspicuous. 

 Suture, placental is flattened to slightly indented and carpellary, 

 moderately obtuse. 



Seeds medium, 1.8 x 1.45 x .8 cm. (25 per oz.); short, broad, 

 nearly semi-circular, long oval thru cross-section, moderately 

 plump, ends uniformly rounded and occasionally somewhat trun- 

 cate. Hilum large, flattened and occasionally incurved. Color 

 pale creamy white, occasionally tinged with green and marked 

 with darker shaded, converging lines from the hilum to the dorsal 

 margin. Surface moderately wrinkled. Quality excellent. 



Fordhook. Refs. 48, 77. This bush lima was 

 discovered by Henry Fish of Santa Barbara County, 

 Calif. He found it as a single plant sport in a field of 

 Challenger Pole limas in 1903, incidentally at the same 

 time he also found the original plant of Burpee Improved. 

 Fordhook was selected and developed by the W. Atlee 

 Burpee Seed Company and introduced in 1907. Al- 

 though Fordhook is of the same type as the Dreer or the 

 Kumerle, it is not a selection from it as generally sup- 

 posed. It is, however, an improved dwarf lima of the 

 Kumerle or Potato Bush type. The variety is generally 

 conceded to be a heavier cropper than its type fore- 

 runner, the Dreer. This factor, together with its com- 

 parative freedom from prostrate growth has given it an 

 important place in the home gardener's as well as the 

 market gardener's variety list. This characteristic has 

 largely eliminated the pods that on the old type would 

 have become discolored from being beaten and thrashed 

 about by the wind and rain. 



In season, Fordhook is a few days earlier than 

 Dreer. At Geneva, it requires 86 days to maturity, 4 

 days earlier than Dreer and 2 days later than Henderson. 

 This variety may best be compared to Dreer in type of 

 plant growth. Fordhook is decidedly upright and erect 

 and is amost entirely free from the willowy runners and 

 limber side branches characteristic of Dreer. The foliage 

 is heavier, leaflets somewhat broader and similar to the 

 leaf of a large pole lirna, more leathery, and thicker. 

 Pods and seeds are inclined to be slightly larger and 

 more plump. All of these distinct improvements readily 

 account for the prominent position now occupied by 

 this variety. 



Plant medium tall, (16-20 inches) with a spread of 14-16 

 inches; upright, moderately erect, occasionally inclined to be 

 scraggly. Vigorous, highly productive over a period of two weeks. 

 Stem stout, fairly stiff, numerous branches both medial and basal. 



Foliage abundant, dark green in color, smooth, light veined, very 

 slight amount of pubescence, very thick and leathery, leaflets large, 

 moderately long, 5 3 4 x 3 1 ., inches, inclined to be more broad at the 

 base than Dreer. Petioles moderately short. Flowers white. 



Pods borne mostly below the foliage; medium dark green in 

 color. Size moderately long, broad and plump (3-4?i x 1-1 ' , x 

 J^-J-8 inches), containing 3-4 seeds per pod. Shape fiat, elliptical 

 thru cross-section, straight to slightly curved, especially from side 

 to side, straight backed, somewhat constricted and often distorted, 

 not crowded, fairly smooth, filled to the tip and the edge and well 

 rounded to almost square on the end. Spur very short, thick, 

 straight and sharp. Suture, placental is flattened and carpellary, 

 obtuse 



Seeds large, 1.8 x 1.5 x. 8 cm. (21 per oz.); short, broad, 

 nearly circular, oval thru cross-section, plump, surface somewhat 

 wrinkled and depressed in places, uniformly rounded and occasion- 

 ally truncate. Hilum large and slightly depressed. Color pale 

 creamy white with a tinge of green (pale olive buff), indistinctly 

 marked with converging lines from the hilum to the dorsal suture. 

 Surface rough. Quality excellent. 



Henderson. Refs. 7, 9, 17, 24, 25, 29, 35, 39, 40, 



44, 46, 48, 49, 57, 59, 62, 63, 71, 77, 88, 91, 96. Syns. 

 Dwarf Carolina, Dwarf Sieva, Earliest Bush, Kelsey 

 Bush, Landreth's Bush Lima, Prolific Bush, Small 

 White Bush. This variety is supposed to have had its 

 origin about 1883 from a chance plant found growing 

 along the road in the vicinity of Lynchburg, Virginia, 

 by a passing negro pedestrian. It was afterwards 

 grown by a local market gardener until 1885 when it 

 was passed on to T. W. Wood & Sons. This firm 

 grew it for two years and then sold the complete stock 

 to Peter Henderson Company of New York in 1887. 

 Henderson kept it to make further selections and to 

 increase the stock and then offered it to the public in the 

 spring of 1889 by the name it now bears. Henderson 

 also introduced an improved strain of this variety in 

 1907. According to Tracy, however, Improved Hender- 

 son is identical with Wood's Prolific Bush Lima intro- 

 duced by T. W. Wood & Sons in 1899. The latter is 

 probably correct, inasmuch as Wood's Prolific Bush had 

 its origin as a sport of Henderson's Bush several years 

 before Peter Henderson introduced his " Improved 

 Henderson." 



The Henderson fills an important place in the group 

 of dwarf limas. Because of its earliness and distinct 

 size and color, it is greatly admired by home gardeners 

 and canners, especially the latter who depend chiefly 

 upon this type for their product. It is also a desirable 

 variety because of its hardiness, productiveness, and 

 freedom from disease, an important consideration in the 

 production of this crop. Its dependability as a sure 

 cropper when other varieties of other types fail because 

 of adverse weather conditions has given it the well- 

 deserved place that it holds. Henderson came into 

 harvest the earliest of all varieties of lima beans, in 84 days 

 at Geneva, 6 days earlier than Dreer and 2 days earlier 

 than Fordhook. It is one of the two most widely grown 

 bush limas of this type. It is earlier by several days 

 than Wood's Prolific and is most like this variety, differ- 

 ing only in having slightly smaller seeds, smaller and less 

 twisted pods, and less vigorous in general growth habit. 



Plant small, 12 inches or less with a spread of not more than 

 15-16 inches; quite erect, bushy, almost entirely free from drooping 

 runner-like side branches. Vigor fair to good, very early, produc- 



