KIDNEY BEAN, OR FRENCH BEAN 



may be made from the same drills every two or three days, and if 

 the plants which were latest sown are protected from frost, green 

 pods may be gathered in the open air up to the end of October. 

 It is usually the tough-podded kinds which are grown for use in 

 the green state, and the preference is given to those varieties in 

 which the young pods are long, straight, very green, and rather 

 cylindrical than flattish in shape. The kinds which are chiefly 

 grown about Paris for this purpose are Swiss Kidney Beans, 

 especially the Gray Swiss and the Black Flageolet. 



In gardens, hardly any kinds are grown for the seeds or beans 

 except the White or Green Flageolets, and they are cultivated just 

 in the same way as the kinds of which the pods are used in the 

 green state. The pods are gathered when they begin to grow 

 yellow, and are no longer brittle. Dry seeds are obtained by 

 allowing them to ripen thoroughly, but some may be preserved 

 tender for winter use by taking up the plants a short time before 

 the pods are ripe, drying them in the shade, and then packing 

 them closely together in a dry place, when the leaves will gradually 

 fall off, while the pods continue attached, and the seeds will remain 

 tender and possess nearly the same flavour as if they had been just 

 newly gathered. 



Tall-growing Kidney Beans, whether grown for the sake of the 

 green pods or the seeds, are treated in exactly the same way as 

 those already described, except that they require to be supplied 

 with poles or branches to support their climbing stems. These 

 supports, which are of different materials in different districts, vary 

 in height from 5 to nearly 10 ft., according to the height of the 

 variety grown. Those used about Paris consist chiefly of Chestnut 

 loppings, with few branches or none, and when staked they are 

 usually inclined, so that two rows of stakes meet at the top. The 

 object of this arrangement is to make the rows firmer, and better 

 able to resist high winds. Sometimes, for greater security, every 

 two opposite stakes are tied together near the top, thus forming 

 a series of gables, which are fastened to poles laid lengthways in 

 the forks, and, in this way, although it may seem a little trouble- 

 some, a structure of great strength and stability is obtained. 



Though we by no means make 

 such good use of the Kidney Bean 

 in its many and valuable dried 

 forms as the French do, its culture 

 in Britain is of the highest import- 

 ance, and we look to its being much 

 more so in the future, when the 

 value of the many kinds described 

 in this book is generally known. 



Sowing and Culture Out-of- 



DOORS. — An early sowing is gene- 

 rally made, in order to be able to 

 pick Kidney Beans before it is 

 possible to have those of the Scarlet 

 Runner type in bearing ; but as 

 soon as these come in, French 

 Beans too often are almost lost 

 sight of. For small gardens the 

 French Bean is invaluable as a 

 summer vegetable, being easily 



