Edible Beans a Yard Long-By Henry Maxwell 



NOT A MERE CURIOSITY, BUT A GOOD VEGETABLE OF WHICH THE 

 LONG, SLENDER PODS ARE COOKED AND EATEN LIKE ASPARAGUS 



Connec- 

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ANY man who is careful of his reputation 

 • for veracity is inclined to shy away 

 from writing about beans a yard long, for 

 the idea seems preposterous on the face of it; 

 yet there is a pretty good vegetable known as 

 the asparagus bean, which often has pods 

 two to four feet long. These pods are not 

 valued for their seeds, as the ordinary white 

 beans are, since the seeds are few and far be- 

 tween; but the whole pods are boiled and 

 eaten like asparagus, or like the sugar 

 podded peas. 



The accompanying photograph, made in 

 Southern California, shows the extraordinary 

 length and slenderness of the pods and the 

 quantity of pods that may be expected in a 

 warm country. "The smaller the product, 

 the better the quality," is the general rule 

 among vegetables, and there is no special 

 point in allowing these beans to grow more 

 than a foot and a half long, as the best pods 

 for cooking are the tender young ones. 



These pods are usually straight, but some- 

 times take very curious twists and turns, so 

 that the specific name of this vegetable (it 



is called Dolichos sesquipedalis) seems 

 doubly appropriate, for the Latin word "ses- 

 quipedalis" means "a foot and a half long," 

 and the very act of pronouncing it requires a 

 certain contortion. 



I shall not seriously recommend the as- 

 paragus bean for northern gardens in com- 

 petition with the lima bean, as I believe 

 the latter has greater food value and produces 

 the crop in less time. The asparagus bean 

 is easy to grow and is cultivated like the 

 lima bean, but it requires so long a growing 

 season that it is better adapted to the warmer 

 parts of the United States. 



It is only the largest seedsmen who offer 

 seeds of the asparagus bean, and generally 

 the catalogues call it "French Yard-Long." 

 There is also a Chinese form called the Tau 

 Kok, which is practically the same. 



The plant grows six to nine feet high, but 

 it must be supported upon poles, as it is a 

 twiner. The flowers are not showy, but are 

 rather interesting. They are rather large, 

 greenish-yellow, and roughly resemble those 

 of the sweet pea, but the standard is bent 



backward and the flower is remarkable for 

 having two small parallel, ear-like appen- 

 dages, which compress the wings and the 

 keel. 



A very interesting relative of the asparagus 

 bean is the hyacinth bean {Dolichos Lablab), 

 which is cultivated for ornament, because 

 of its showy purple flowers and short, but 

 handsome, pods. This is an excellent an- 

 nual vine, sometimes attaining twenty feet in 

 good garden soil. The foliage is attractive 

 and the leaf consists of three ovate leaflets. 



It is hard to find, even in the best horti- 

 cultural books, any frank statement of the 

 limitations of any vegetable or ornamental 

 plant. I hope that this article will induce 

 some Southern gardener to tell us more 

 about the comparative yield, flavor, and cul- 

 tivation of the asparagus and other beans. 



Another interesting and unusual vegetable 

 which will appeal to anyone who is anxious 

 to experiment is found in the sugar or 

 edible-podded peas, which might be grown 

 under the same conditions and on the same 

 support as some of these beans. 



In Southern California the asparagus bean grows pods four feet long which are cooked and eaten whole. In the East pods may reach one and a half feet 



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