DWARF TOUGH-PODDED KIDNEY BEANS 59 



at one end (whence its French name of Haricot Lzngot). They 

 are usually about | in. long, and something over \ in. in breadth 

 and thickness. They can be eaten dried, but the skin is rather 

 thick. 



Early Dwarf White Bean. — A very pretty sub-variety of 

 the preceding one, but free from the long sterile stems referred 

 to above. It is also a few days earlier. The plant is of a 

 dwarfer habit, more even in growth, and also more regular in 

 earliness. The pods and the seeds do not show any marked 

 difference. 



Black Speckled Kidney Bean {Haricot de Bagnolet). — A 

 kind much grown about Paris for its green pods. As a general 

 rule, it does not exhibit 

 the objectionable habit of 

 growth alluded to in the 

 description of the Royal 

 Dwarf White Kidney Bean, 

 and, in this respect, it is 

 better than most of the 

 Swiss Kidney Beans. It 

 grows 14 to 16 in. high and 

 has large deep green leaves, 

 not much crimped, and lilac 

 flowers; pods straight, long, 

 very green, and, when young, 

 almost cylindrical ; seeds 

 straight, long, rounded at 



both ends, nearly as thick 



as broad, black-violet varie- Black Speckled Kidney Bean. 



gated with nankeen yellow 



streaks on about one-third of their surface, these markings being 

 sometimes reduced to a few light-coloured spots on a nearly black 

 ground. There is also a white-seeded variety, which is identical in 

 all other respects. 



Nettle-leaved Bagnolet Bean. — A sub-variety of the pre- 

 ceding kind, about 16 in. in height. Stem light green, very branch- 

 ing. It differs from the Black Speckled Bean by being a little 

 earlier, and by the leaves, which are smaller, much crimped, veined, 

 and of a lighter green ; flowers white instead of lilac ; the pods are 

 longer, about 4J in., and flat. The seed resembles exactly that 

 of the Bagnolet Bean ; each pod contains six. 



Dwarf Parisian Bean. — A dwarf plant of vigorous early 

 growth and rapid development, with dark green leaves and lilac 

 flowers ; pods straight, very long, marked with black streaks, 

 which disappear in the cooking. The seed is flat, kidney-shaped, 

 spotted dark purple on chamois. It is a good variety for the 



