450 
tubers, or pieces of larger ones, each piece being 
furnished with two or three eyes. Previous to 
planting, the ground should be deeply dug or 
trenched, and manured if necessary. The sets 
may be planted in the end of January, in Febru- 
ary, or March, either in shallow trenches 4 or 5 
inches deep, or in holes made to that depth with 
a dibbler. They may be placed 1 foot apart, in 
rows 3 feet asunder. The rows should run north 
and south in order to admit the sun’s rays, 
which would otherwise be to a great extent 
excluded by the luxuriant foliage of the plants 
facing the south. After planting, with the ex- 
ception of hoeing the ground occasionally and 
drawing a little earth to the stems, nothing 
further is required till November, when the 
tubers will be fit to take up, to be stored in 
sand, for use in winter; but as they are not 
injured by frost, and keep best in the ground, 
the greater portion of them may be allowed to 
remain, to be taken up as wanted; if, however, 
the ground is required for other purposes, the 
whole crop may be taken up and pitted like 
Potatoes. In digging them up, which is best 
done with a fork, care should be taken to re- 
move all the tubers, as any that are allowed to 
remain will spring up when the growing season 
arrives; for this reason, the plant is not easily 
eradicated from where it has once been grown. 
A fresh plantation should be made every year. 
Kidney or Haricot Bean (Phaseolus vul- 
garis) (fig. 1206). The Kidney-Bean, or French 
Bean, is a tender annual, a native of South 
America, according to De Candolle: “It has not 
been long cultivated in India, south-west Asia, 
and Egypt; it is not certain that it was known 
in Europe before the discovery of America; at 
this epoch the number of varieties suddenly 
increased in European gardens ”. 
There are two well-marked varieties, namely 
the tough-podded, the pods of which are tough 
and leathery when ripe, and the edible-podded, 
the pods of which never become stringy, and 
are therefore useful as a vegetable when mature. 
These are again divided into tall or climbing 
sorts and dwarf sorts. They differ from the 
Scarlet-Runner Bean (P. multiflorus) and the 
Lima Bean (P. lunatus). 
The Kidney-Bean is an important and excel- 
lent vegetable, affording a large amount of pro- 
duce from a small space. When the weather is 
sufficiently warm it soon yields a supply, and 
continues to do so in succession for a long time. 
If the green pods are superabundant in summer, 
they may be preserved in salt for use in winter; 
THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT. 
they may be made into a pickle alone, or to- 
gether with other vegetables; and, finally, the 
ripe seeds can be used in a variety of ways—in 
haricots, soups, and stews. 
Cultivation.—Originally from the warm parts 
of the world, the Kidney-Bean requires a warm 
soil and situation. For early crops, more espe- 
Fig, 1206.—Kidney or Haricot Bean. 
cially, a rich sandy loam is desirable, and as 
warm a situation as can be afforded, such as the 
border in front of a south wall, or along the 
bottom of a wooden fence, but at the same 
time exposed to the sun. For the main crops, 
however, any well-conditioned garden soil will 
answer. For the latest crops a light warm soil 
and a good situation, similar to that for early 
crops, should again be chosen. In the northern 
parts of the kingdom it may, in some cases, be 
advisable to depend chiefly for a supply on the 
dwart sorts grown on a south border, or on the 
flat ridges between early-dug Celery trenches— 
a position that suits this class of Bean admirably. 
No manure is required where the soil has 
been manured for the previous crop; but where 
the soil is not rich, half-rotted stable-dung is 
