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AMERICAN VARIETIES OF GARDEN BEANS. 



ARTIFICIAL KEY TO VARIETIES. 



The following key, arranged on the dichotomous system, now 

 largely adopted by botanists, is devised to enable the student to 

 determine the variety name of any bean listed by American seeds- 

 men. Aii examination of the numbers on the left will show that 

 these numbers run from 1 to 111 in pairs and that the descriptions 

 in each one of this set of numbers are in opposite or contrasting 

 characters; also that at the right of these descriptions is given 

 sometimes a variety name and sometimes a number referring to a simi- 

 lar number on the left of the page. To trace out a particular variety, 

 like Currie's Rustproof, for instance, the student, beginning at 1, is 

 referred in regular order to 2, 3, 6, 21, 48, 49, 54, 55, and finally to 

 56, where the name sought is given on the right. 



In order to make this key compact, the descriptions are necessarily 

 quite short, and in case of the color of seeds it has seemed desirable to 

 disregard the minute, almost imperceptible colored area about the eye 

 of some seeds and describe them as of a solid color, although they are 

 not so described in the formal descriptions, or at least the minute col- 

 ored area around the eye is given some mention. 



1. Seeds with very large hilum, or eye, extending over at least one-fifth cncurnfer- 

 ence of seed Broad Windsor and other English Broad varieties. 



1. Seeds with very small hilum, or eye, extending over not more than one- 



twentieth circumference of seed . 2 



2. Fully developed pods less than one-fourth inch in diameter and at least 14 



inches in length (leaf, pod, and habit resembling cowpea) Yard Long Pole. 



2. Fully developed pods over one-fourth inch in diameter at widest portion and less 



than 14 inches in length (leaf, pod, and habit not resembling cowpea) 3 



3. Flowers large, or at least 1\ inches across wings; roots inclined to be 



thickened (Multiflora varieties) 4 



3. Flowers small, or not over five-eighths inch across wings; roots never thick- 



ened, always fibrous (Lima and Kidney varieties) 6 



4. Plants bush Aroostook Bush Lima, Barteldes's Bush Lima. 



4. Plants pole 5 



5. Seeds white White Dutch Runner. 



5. Seeds violet-black, mottled with bluish violet Scarlet Runner. 



6. Pods never fleshy or edible even when very young (Lima beans) 7 



6. Pods more or less fleshy and always edible when very young (Kidney beans) . . 21 



7. Plants bush 8 



7. Plants pole 12 



8. Seeds yellowish, splashed with pansy violet Jackson Wonder Bush. 



8. Seeds entirely white 9 



9. Pods thick and seeds very crowded in pod Dreers Bush. 



9. Pods flat and seeds somewhat separated in pod 10 



10. Leaflets extremely narrow or lanceolate Willow-Leaved Bush. 



10. Leaves not extremely narrow or lanceolate 11 



11 . Leaves very glossy and seeds small Wood's Prolific Bush. Henderson' s Bush. 



11. Leaves not very glossy and seeds large Burpee's Bush, Wonder Bush. 



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