LEGUMINOUS PLANTS.— THE BEAN. 



63 



matically, and found that the expansion of a 

 single bean while growing is capable of raising a 

 plug loaded with one hundred pounds' weight. 

 The beans are the usual part of the plant used 

 as food; but Philips informs us that the green 

 pods, boiled after the beans are removed, is a 

 dish that many people prefer to the beans 

 themselves, and that the pods should be served 

 with parsley and butter, as boiled beans usually 

 are. He adds also, that the young beans, boiled 

 in broth, are esteemed highly emollient. Par- 

 boiled beans, boiled in a weak; syrup of honey 

 and musk, make an excellent bait for fish. 



Propagation. — All the bean tribe, being 

 annuals, are propagated by seed. 



Planting. — Crops to come in earliest in 

 the succeeding season are sown or planted 

 (for beans are said to be planted, and not 

 sown, as they are set at a greater distance 

 from each other than pease and similar 

 crops that are set thicker or sown) in the 

 latter end of October, in November, De- 

 cember, January, and so on till May, sown 

 after which they would scarcely come to 

 perfection. Once a month for the early 

 crops, and once a fortnight for the two 

 general crops, is sufficiently frequent, few 

 even sowing above three or four crops 

 at most during the season. These periods 

 apply to the open borders. They are 

 also sown after the manner of pease 

 {which see), under cover, and transplanted, 

 as will be noticed below. Beans planted 

 in March are fit for gathering in June, 

 and ripen their seed in July. 



The ground having been prepared by 

 trenching or deep-digging, and well ma- 

 nured, drills are opened with the hoe 

 (as has been described for pease) 3 inches 

 deep; the drills for the Mazagan bean, 

 which, on account of its hardiness, is pre- 

 ferred for autumnal planting, should be 

 2^ feet apart, the beans being set in the 

 lines 3 inches distant from each other : 

 the soil is drawn over them with the hoe 

 or a coarse rake, and left quite rough on 

 the surface. Finely raking the ground 

 over such crops is an absurdity, but old 

 habits are difficult to set aside. The 

 opener the soil is left, the better it ex- 

 cludes frost ; the smoother it is made, the 

 more likely is it to cake, and become, in 

 some soils, so hard that, were the beans 

 not possessed of the extraordinary expan- 

 sive power stated by Boyle, and noticed 

 above, they could hardly force their way 

 through it. True it is that the crust might 

 be broken by drawing the rake over it, 



but in this operation there would be a 

 great chance of breaking the necks of the 

 beans at the same time. A crop of lettuce 

 or early cabbage may be planted between 

 the rows, either of which would come off 

 while young, for use, before the beans 

 arrive at a height to injure them. This 

 is the practice of the London market- 

 gardeners. We should here, however, 

 state, for the information of that class of 

 gardeners who think a cabbage is unfit 

 for use until it be as hard as a cannon- 

 ball, and almost as large as a drum, 

 that early cabbage is in most estima- 

 tion when quite young and tender, and 

 just before they begin to turn in their 

 leaves, or form a solid heart. This is an 

 eligible situation for such a secondary 

 crop, as the first planting of beans should 

 be made on a warm well-exposed border. 

 The same precautions will be required 

 to save the crop from mice and other 

 enemies as are recommended for pease. 

 In cold damp soils and late situations, the 

 rows of beans at planting may be covered 

 with 2 inches of finely-sifted coal-ashes, 

 rotten tan, or the like : either will exclude 

 frost and counteract damp. Not, how- 

 ever, that frost is to be dreaded, for the 

 bean will bear a considerable amount of 

 it; but the principal intention is to keep 

 the soil dry and prevent the escape of 

 heat which it has absorbed during sum- 

 mer, and with which it has not by the 

 end of October altogether parted. 



In planting the secondary and princi- 

 pal crops, more open situations should be 

 chosen ; and for them it is important that 

 the ground be moderately enriched, and 

 trenched at least 2 feet in depth. Trench- 

 ing is an assistant to manure; in some 

 cases it is even more than a substitute. 

 In regard to distance, that depends, as 

 has been shown in the case of pease, 

 mainly on the sort of bean to be planted, 

 and the height it is to attain. The new 

 royal dwarf cluster is 1 foot in height ; a 

 distance of 18 or 20 inches should be 

 given, as it branches out close to the 

 ground — and even at that distance, in 

 good ground, will nearly cover the 

 whole surface. For the white blossomed, 

 which attains the height of from 3 to 4 

 feet, that space, or rather more, should be 

 allowed. Marshall's early prolific is about 

 18 or 20 inches high ; give it, therefore, a 

 proportionate distance. Almost all the 



