48 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Extra Early Pole Bean.~A variety, not exceeding 5 ft. ; 

 leaves large, light green, lightly crimped. Pods straight, full, green, 

 often in bunches of five or six. Seed white, flat, very small. This 



Bean is remarkable for 

 producing good-sized, ser- 

 viceable pods at a time 

 when most of the other 

 pole Beans are hardly be- 

 ginning to flower. It is 

 at this early stage of their 

 development that the pods 

 ought to be used, for they 

 harden quickly and are 

 never altogether free from 

 parchment. The seed, 

 though small when quite 

 dry, may be used in a fresh 

 state, when the pods are 

 turning yellow. 



Round White Rice 

 Runner Kidney Bean. — A 

 variety of moderate height, 

 seldom exceeding 5 ft., and 

 sometimes not much over 

 4 ft. Stem very slender, 

 light green; leaves medium 

 sized, long, pointed, not 

 much crimped, and of a 

 clear green colour; flowers 

 white ; pods green, narrow, 

 very numerous, especially 

 at the lower parts of the 

 stems, where they often 

 grow in clusters of fours or fives, while hardly any are produced 

 near the tops of the stems ; seeds five or six in each pod, nearly 

 round, with a very smooth, thin, almost transparent skin, and not 

 much over ^ in. in diameter. This variety presents an appearance 

 so peculiar and so difl"erent from that of most other kinds, that it 

 might be readily supposed to be derived from a distinct botanical 

 species, were it not that its flowers exactly resemble those of other 

 Kidney Beans. It branches and spreads more than the majority 

 of tall-growing varieties, forming a clump nearly 2 ft. wide, with 

 weak, slender stems, which do not exhibit much of the climbing 

 character. The seeds are so small and so peculiar in shape that 

 it is difficult at first sight to imagine that they belong to a plant 

 of the same species as the Soissons or Liancourt Beans. However, 



Extra Early Pole Bean. 



