THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. XLIX 



mentation. The material worked with, owing chiefly to 

 lack of knowledge of earlier generations, offered many 

 limitations and is nnsuited to a detailed analysis of the 

 characters in question. As the plants were usually not 

 more than six inches apart in the rows, the crowding in 

 the later stages of development hindered accurate judg- 

 ment of the habit type. 



With reference to general habit bean plants are either 

 pole or bush. Pole beans are commonly long twining 

 vines, climbing when provided with poles or other sup- 

 port. The true bush type is usually short, erect and non- 

 twining. There are also certain races of beans really in- 

 termediate between the true bush and pole types, the run- 

 ner beans, which are non-climbing. Types classed as 

 bush beans also occur, which are spreading and possess 

 outstretched branches of a more or less runner-like char- 

 acter. 



The following table contains a description of habit of 

 varieties of beans considered in this discussion. The de- 

 scriptions are from " American Varieties of Garden 

 Beans" (5). The varieties observed agree with these 

 descriptions except in the case of Mohawk, which is de- 

 scribed as without runners. The strain of Mohawk iso- 

 lated here produces runners. 



TABLE I 



Pole Beans ALTi 



Runner Beans ALt 

 White Marrow— Very large, very spreading, many runners. 



Bush Beans AIT 



