552 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



FRENCH BEANS AT WISLEY, 1914. 



Report by C. C. Titchmarsh, Trials Officer. 



The seeds of eighty-three stocks of French Beans were sent to Wisley 

 from various sources during the early part of 1914. Of these seventy- 

 six were dwarf and seven cHmbing varieties. About 100 seeds of 

 each stock were sown on May 8. Their germination was regular 

 and, on the whole, good. The plants made excellent growth and 

 w^ere twice examined by a sub-committee of the Fruit and Vegetable 

 Committee. Almost without exception, the varieties came into bear- 

 ing during the week following July 15 ; neither earhness nor late- 

 ness was exhibited to a marked degree by any variety. As might be 

 expected, the dwarf varieties arrived at maturity before the climbers. 



The annexed Table gives, in a succinct form, the horticultural 

 and botanical characters of the varieties under trial as well as the 

 Awards granted to the several varieties. The horticultural characters 

 alone are taken into consideration by the Committee in making 

 its recommendations for Award, except in so far that, in cases of 

 varieties which on inspection do not appear to be pure, reference 

 is made to the botanical characters, which are used as indexes of 

 the pureness of the strain. In the table the horticultural characters 

 are placed first as being of essential importance ; but, in order to 

 bring together varieties which most nearly resemble one another, 

 use has been made of the readily observed botanical characters. 

 For this purpose the colour of the seed, and secondly the colour of 

 the flower, have been taken as the basis for classification. Thus all 

 black-seeded varieties appear together. Hence, by inspection of the 

 botanical part of the table (columns XIV. to XVIII.), a fairly sure 

 index of the similarity or difference between any two varieties may 

 be obtained. It should, however, be observed that identity of the 

 botanical characters which have been recorded does not necessarily 

 mean that the varieties in question are of similar or of equal economic 

 value. 



The Fruit and Vegetable Committee considered that the following 

 varieties possessed conspicuous merit : — 



2.* AUerfriiheste Stuttgart er 44. Mammoth Six Weeks 



5, 8. Canadian Wonder 60. Perpetual 



19. Early Fortyfold 64. ProUfic Negro 



22. Early Wonder 67. St. Andrews 



28, 29. Evergreen 71. Sunrise 



30. Excelsior 73, 74. Superlative 



31. Fillbasket 77. White Model 

 41. Magpie 



• See footnote, p. 501. 



