Good News About the Broad Bean— By w. e. Pendleton, s 



VARIETIES THAT ARE ADAPTED TO HUMAN FOOD FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN RISE 

 SUPERIOR TO THE TRADITIONAL PREJUDICE AGAINST THEM AS "HORSE FOOD" 



1DARE say there is no vegetable in the 

 ■world against which there is so much 

 prejudice as the English broad bean, which 

 is usually stigmatized as "horse food," yet 

 there are varieties which are commonly used 

 for food in Europe, not merely by the working 

 classes either. There are many Englishmen 

 of wealth and refinement who are enthu- 

 siastic about the broad bean, and the 

 United States Department of Agriculture 

 will give seeds of the best varieties free to 

 those who are willing to report the results. 



There is no denying that the broad bean 

 has a strong and peculiar flavor, but many 

 people like this flavor even though it is strong, 

 and the one important point which those 

 who sneer at broad beans neglect to tell you 

 is that parboiling solves the whole difficulty. 

 Moreover, the strength and peculiarity of 

 its flavor are much diminished in the varieties 

 adapted to human food, especially if the 

 beans are eaten at a very young and im- 

 mature stage, just as Lima beans are eaten. 



While the full-grown beans are tough and 

 strong, the young beans are tender and 

 delicate, especially if they are parboiled or 

 cooked in this way: Put the freshly gathered 

 beans into boiling water which has been 

 salted at the rate of one heaping tablespoon- 

 ful to one-half gallon of water. Boil rapidly 

 for fifteen or twenty minutes and serve with 

 a sauce of parsley and butter. Boiled bacon 

 is often served with these beans. The more 

 mature beans are also very desirable for 

 addition to soups, being used like barley or 

 split peas. 



I cannot claim that there is anything 

 absolutely new about the broad bean. There 

 is nothing new under the sun, and the broad 

 bean has been cultivated since prehistoric 

 times. Moreover, four excellent varieties 

 have been offered in one of the best American 

 seed catalogues for perhaps thirty years, but 

 to the American public the English bean 

 unquestionably represents a new idea, and it 

 is certainly a very singular plant. 



The broad bean is not a climbing plant 

 but a strong, erect, annual bush, two to four 

 feet high, which looks more like a pea than 

 a bean. It has from two to six leaflets, of 

 which the terminal one may be pointed, or 



represented by a rudimentary tendril. The 

 flowers are lilac-colored or creamy and have 

 a large, blue-black spot upon them. The 

 pods vary extraordinarily, some varieties 

 having pods only two or three inches long, 

 while some occasionally attain eighteen 

 inches. The botanical name is Vicia Faba, 

 while that of the common string bean is 

 Phaseolus vulgaris. 



One reason why the broad bean has never 

 become popular in this country is that our 

 summers are, in general, too hot and dry for 

 it. It is not at all a heat-loving plant and 

 therefore it will probably never amount to 



Five stages in the development of the pod of the 

 broad bean (Viaa Faba) 



anything in our Southern States unless as a 

 winter crop. On the other hand, it will 

 probably grow where garden peas thrive, 

 for it is as hardy as the pea and can be sown 

 as early. Both are cool season plants which 

 must be sown before the danger of frost is 

 past, in order to mature the crop before hot 

 weather comes on. The broad bean has 

 established itself in the Maritime Provinces 

 of Canada and ought to find a ready sale 



among Englishmen in the Atlantic seaboard 

 cities from Baltimore north. 



The cultural directions are very simple. 

 Sow them in drills two feet apart as early in 

 spring as the ground can be worked. Plant 

 them three inches apart and cover them not 

 more than two inches deep. They like a 

 strong soil best. When pods begin to form, 

 you should break off the top of the plant in 

 order to check the growth and encourage 

 the production of pods. 



If you are willing to give the broad bean 

 a fair trial and report the results, write to 

 David G. Fairchild, Office of Seed and Plant 

 Introduction and Distribution, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and ask for a few seeds 

 of the best varieties, mentioning The Garden 

 Magazine. If you are not willing to report 

 or wish seeds in quantity ask the Readers' 

 Service Department of The Garden Maga- 

 zine for addresses of seedsmen who have the 

 varieties best adapted to human food. 



In America "Broad Windsor" is often 

 used as a generic rather than a varietal name, 

 and many seedsmen will send simple "horse 

 beans" in response for an order for Broad 

 Windsor. 



Mrs. Fullerton, author of "How to Make 

 a Vegetable Garden," has tried the entire 

 collection offered by the Department and 

 speaks well of the broad bean. She says 

 that it approaches the Lima bean very closely 

 in consistency and appeal to the palate, and 

 finds that a number of Americans who tried 

 the beans were enthusiastic about them at 

 once, while others disliked them. Mrs. 

 Fullerton found that the beans furnished a 

 continuous crop, blooming and setting pods 

 until a hard frost killed them. This was 

 probably due to the cool nights and moist 

 atmosphere of Long Island. 



The only enemy of the bean was a little 

 black fly which the Fullertons had frequently 

 seen on other vegetables. Coal ashes were 

 procured from the kitchen range and vigor- 

 ously applied on the tops and sides of the 

 plants and on the ground. The pest either 

 died or emigrated. 



Some seedsmen sell broad beans to street 

 fakirs, who scent or dye them and sell as 

 vanilla or other rare kinds of bean. 





Set like & jewel in a velvet case 



The broad bean plant 

 234 



Eat them when small, tender, and immature 



