SCARLET RUNNER BEANS 



93 



With respect to soil, a light rich 

 loam is best for the Scarlet Runner, 

 and it should be deep, to allow of 

 the roots descending in time of 

 drought. Previously to planting, the 

 ground should be deeply trenched 

 and enriched by means of a Hberal 

 supply of good rotten manure. 

 Where, however, time cannot be 

 spared for this, trenches may be 

 taken out, 2 ft. wide and from 

 2 to 3 ft. deep, according to the 

 depth of the soil. The soil thus 

 taken out should then have plenty 

 of good manure mixed with it, and 

 be replaced in the trench. If this 

 be done in autumn, it will be all the 

 better. 



Market Garden Culture. — 

 Scarlet Runners, on account of their 

 taking up more room, are not so 

 much grown in London market gar- 

 dens as the dwarf French Beans. 

 Their yield is not so great in propor- 

 tion to the ground occupied, and 

 they are also, unless supported by 

 stakes, more difficult to gather. 

 Around Wandsworth, and in some 

 parts of Kent, within twenty miles 

 of London, however, large fields are 

 devoted to their culture. In some 

 places stakes are used, but, as a 

 rule, the points of the shoots are 

 kept stopped, and the haulm is 

 allowed to rest on the ground. In 

 some respects this latter practice is 

 best, for the rows can be placed close 

 together, and, moreover, the haulm 

 shades the ground and keeps the 

 soil moist, a condition essential to 

 the growth of Scarlet Runners. A 



rich, light soil and an open situa- 

 tion is that usually chosen for them. 

 Some plant a few rows in warm, 

 sheltered places for early use, the 

 seeds of which are sown in a tem- 

 porary frame in April, and are trans- 

 planted from thence to the open 

 ground as soon as the weather is 

 warm enough to admit of it, but, as 

 a rule, the seed is sown in drills in 

 an open field about the first week 

 in May. Ground previously occu- 

 pied by Celery suits these Beans 

 perfectly, the soil being deep, well 

 worked, and rich. The seeds are 

 sown in broad drills from 4 to 8 ft. 

 apart, according to whether the plants 

 are to be staked or not. Two rows 

 occupy each drill, and the plants 

 when up are left from 4 to 6 in. 

 apart each way, the thinnings being 

 used to fill up gaps, should such 

 occur. When the plants are fairly 

 up, a ridge of earth is drawn to 

 each side of them, to protect them 

 in some measure from cutting winds 

 and late frosts. When in full flower, 

 the points of the shoots are pinched 

 off, which causes the stem to branch 

 and keep dwarf. Early in July 

 Scarlet Runners appear in Covent 

 Garden, and when that happens 

 French Beans are not in so much 

 demand as hitherto, the majority 

 of vegetable consumers preferring 

 Runners to French Beans. Some 

 market gardeners sow successional 

 crops for autumn use, but the bulk 

 of the produce is brought to market 

 in the end of July and throughout 

 August. 



There are several varieties, differing in the colour of their 

 flowers and seeds ; the principal are : — 



1. The Scarlet Runner. — The seeds of this variety are light 

 wine-colour, blotched with black. 



2. The Black-seeded Runner. — The flowers of both this and 

 the preceding variety are a uniform scarlet. 



3. Painted Lady, Bicolor, or York and Lancaster Runner.— 



