DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



every rural family has a bed of it in their garden ; there is always gi-eat compe- 

 tition between neighbors in cutting the first bunch of the season. Soak the 

 seed twenty-four hours in warm water, and sow early in the spring, in drills, two 

 inches deep, and one foot apart from row to row, and keep clear of weeds by 

 frequent hoeing. After the plants are either one or two years old — the former 

 preferred — transplant them into permanent beds. 



The ground for the beds should be thoroughly trenched, burying in plenty 

 of manure, as no more can be supplied after the beds are planted, except by 

 surface dressings ; the soil can scarcely be too rich, for the sweetness and ten- 

 derness of the shoots depend on the rapidity of their growth. A plot of ground 

 twenty feet wide and fifty feet long will be large enough to supply a moderate 

 sized family ; over it sow one hundred pounds of salt, mixing it thoroughly with 

 the soil, to the depth of four inches. Set the plants in trenches 

 six inches deep and nine inches apart, exposing them as little 

 to the sun as possible, taking care to set the crown of the root 

 tv,-o inches below the surface. Cut down the stems the last of 

 autumn, and after clearing off the weeds, cover them with a 

 dressing of manure or rich compost, which is to be forked in 

 the spring. The plants must be properly 

 established before cutting, ^^hich will re- 

 quii"e at least two seasons. 



Conoyer's Colossal. — A new, mam- 

 moth ^•ariety, of vigorous growth, sending 

 up from fifteen to forty sprouts each 

 year, from one to two inches in diameter. 

 Color, deep green, and crown very close ; 

 of delicious flavor ; brittle and tender, and 

 will bear cutting a year sooner than any 

 other sort. This would seem to be an 

 entirely distinct and new variety. 



Giant. — The old, favorite variety, 

 producing abundantly. Tops, green or 

 purple, according to the soil in which they 



Conover's 

 Colossal. 



Giant. 



are raised. If well cultivated, and in rich ground, the stocks will be very large. 



st^ws. 



PHASEOLUS VULGARIS. 



Fr. Haricots nains. — Ger. Stambohnen. 



DWARF, BUSH OR SNAPS. 



Under this name are classed all the low-growing sorts, called in different 

 catalogues, Bush, Bunch, Snap, String, or Dwarf Beans. They are so extreme- 

 ly sensitive of frost and cold, that it is useless to plant them before the middle 



