69o 
THF RURAL NEW-YORKER 
OCTOBER i9 
DWARF VS. POLE BEANS. 
FROM H. M. ENGLE. 
Bush BEANS are preferable for early 
cropping and the saving of poles. Pole 
beans will yield larger crops. Farmers in 
this vicinity plant pole beans with corn and 
they yield fair crops with the least possible 
labor and expense. They are generally 
planted after corn is up four to six inches. 
Lancaster County, Pa. 
FROM FRED GRUNDY. 
For string or snap beans 1 prefer the 
dwarf varieties because they are somewhat 
ear-lier than the running sorts, take up but 
little space in the garden and are out of the 
way iu time for a second crop. Two plant¬ 
ings, eight or 10 days apart, are made. We 
do not try to extend the season further by 
successive plantings. There is no Lima 
equal to the old large Lima. Most of the 
so-called “improvements” are in the wrong 
direction. When grown on poles the beans 
are off the ground where they keep clean 
and ripen perfectly. A sprinkle of rain 
will stain or rot every bean that touches 
the soil. If only the end of the pod touches 
the ground the beans are quickly spoiled by 
a shower when they begin to ripen. 
Christian County, Ill. 
FROM ISAAC HICKS. 
We think the German wax beans and the 
other varieties of wax beans are the best 
for family use. They should be planted at 
intervals so as to afford a succession 
through the season. I want no pole beans 
until the Limas are in season. These are 
as yet unequaled and will repay all the 
care and trouble of furnishing poles: at any 
rate they do with us on Long Island. For 
quality and because they require much less 
labor and space we prefer the wax podded 
bush beans. Henderson’s Dwarf Sieva 
Bean is productive and as good as the pole 
Carolina or Sieva, and earlier than the 
Lima and desirable on that account, and 
also for economy of space. One year’s trial 
with it is satisfactory, and I shall continue 
to plant it. I do not grow any of the Kum- 
ijhtfkulturai. 
“BEANS! 
(AIR: “Tli ree Blind Mice.”) 
THUS! LIMA BEAKS ! 
THREE LIMA BEAKS! 
THREE LIMA BEAKS! 
See How They’ll Run! 
They’ll Make Lots of Fun! 
And Money By The Ton! 
erle Limas and can give no opinion with 
regard to it except by seeing it in another 
place. It did not seem equal to the Lima 
and with the lover of good rich beans I do 
not believe either kind will supersede this. 
Queens County, N. Y. 
FROM. A. B. COLEMAN. 
I do not. deem dwarf or bush beans more 
desirable than pole beans except in earli¬ 
ness. and perhaps because they can be 
grown with less expense and labor. I am 
partial to pole beans. They are more pro¬ 
lific, of better quality, and will bear until 
frost kills the vines if properly cultivated. 
Bush beans soon become tough and unfit 
for the table unless shelled, while pole 
beans are ever-bearing. In localities where 
it is expensive and inconvenient to obtain 
poles«or other suitable material for “stick¬ 
ing ” pole-beans, it would doubtless be de¬ 
sirable to grow bush beans alone and plant 
in succession. There are many varieties of 
pole beans which can be grown success¬ 
fully in corn fields, where they are allowed 
to run on the corn plants. This is the 
cheapest way to grow them. I have not 
yet grown Henderson’s Dwarf Lima, and 
cannot speak of it from personal exper¬ 
ience. Two of my neighbors tried it this 
year, one of whom succeeded very well with 
it, and he thinks it a desirable novelty. It 
is, however, no better in quality than the 
old Sieva and not so prolific. Except as a 
They’ll All Ruq After the Farmer’s ^Cash, 
And Into His Wallet They’ll Cut a Gash ; 
Will They Prove Worth Keeping, or Only Trash? 
THREE LIMA BEANS I 
Henderson’s Happy Hit! 
Thorburns Thick Treasure! 
Burpee’s Big Bean! 
DWARFS vs. POLES 
down to the ground where many will he de¬ 
stroyed by contact. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
THE DWARF LIMA BEANS. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
I HAVE been much interested in these 
little strangers and watched their pro¬ 
gress this summer attentively. We have 
two kinds, namely, Henderson’s, and Kum 
erle’s (Thorburn & Co.). I have grown 
them both in good, level, sheltered ground 
and in rows three feet apart and side by 
side. Bolh were sown on the 17th of May, 
and every seed germinated -and gave me a 
good fruitful plant, and to-day—September 
9th—I have taken an average plant of each 
kind from the middle of the rows for exam 
ination. Now that the fall is approaching 
I have discovered a new use for Dwarf Lima 
Beans. Tall Limas are very tender and the 
first frost injures them; anyhow, if we can 
manage to save them into October we find 
the supply of young beans is short, for the 
vines do nofi pod well after the first of Sep-^ 
tember. But the dwarfs are at our mercy, ! 
not we at theirs. We can put in June and 
July sowings on warm, sunny land just as’ 
we do snap beans the end of August and first! 
of September, and cover them over with! 
frames and sashes, and in this way have! 
bean pods; 38 of these are dry ripe, five fit 
for use, and 36 unripe or too young for use. 
This would indicate 43 pods as an average 
early cron; the 36 unripe pods are the result 
of a second spurt. This whole lot of beans, 
pods and all, ripe and unripe, weighs just 
63 ounces. 
Sowm May 17, we gathered our first beans 
July 26, just at the same time as we did 
ordinary Sievas sown at the same time, and 
10 days ahead of large Limas sown on the 
same day. 
Kumerle’s Dwarf Lima belongs to the 
large-seeded or ordinary Limas and is a 
fixed dwarf variety. The plants have fine, 
healthy foliage. In habit they hug the 
ground rather than rise up a little in bushy 
form. Each plant makes four or five lead¬ 
ing branches which at first are short-joint¬ 
ed. The flower spikes are axillary, short¬ 
stemmed and terminated by a few close- 
together flowers. The pods are short, un¬ 
usually thick and knobby, displaying the 
seeds inside by prominent knobs ; and one, 
two or three of these pods, hut mostly one 
or two are borne, terminating each spike, 
and they contain two, three, or four beans 
each; hut mostly three. The beans are 
[very chubby and pressed so closely up 
£ against each other in the pods as to indent 
■ each other. Cut across lengthwise they 
|measure seven-eighths of an inch (less than 
I an average large Lima) and almost half an 
inch (more than a common Lima) in thick¬ 
ness. The quality when cooked is not as 
good, in my opinion, as is Dreer’s Lima. 
The plant now before me has five branches, 
two of them spreading out three feet long, 
and the other three only 20 inches. While 
it was setting its crop of fruit this plant 
was no more than 20 inches long (I cannot 
well say “high, ” for it doesn’t rise up); the 
extra length of the two branches has been 
a sport of a few weeks. At the same time 
there is no inclination to climb in any of 
the plants. It has borne 25 pods, all well 
filled and seven of them are now dry ripe ; 
and all together—beans and pods—they 
weigh just eight ounces. It is still full of 
flowers, especially on the new growth; but 
shows little inclination to continue to set 
fresh pods; indeed, it is much more of a 
one-crop nature than are the large Limas of 
any variety. In point of earliness it is 
about the same as the common Limas; 
they all differ a little according to season 
and circumstances. Judging by its be¬ 
havior this year, I should think if one de¬ 
pended on this dwarf Lima for beans, he 
would have to make successive sowings, 
the last as late as the end of June. 
BURPEE’S BUSH LIMA. From 
matter of convenience, I prefer pole beans. 
Caldwell County, Kentucky. 
FROM N. HALLOCK. 
I PREFER the dwarf bean, for it occupies 
less space and is easily cultivated. With it, 
too, there is no expense for poles, which are 
unsightly in a well-kept garden, and as 
there is no pole bean that is superior to our 
best bush beans, I have given up raising 
pole beans for family use. 
My preference does not extend to Hen¬ 
derson’s Bush Lima, as it lacks the quality 
that gives the Lima its pojjularity. Many 
of our snap beans are as good to shell and 
cook green as the bush Lima. A friend 
who planted 85 worth, when asked his ex¬ 
perience with it, said: “ I do not value it.” 
The other I have not seen growing. 
Queens County, L. I. 
FROM D. LANDRETH & SONS. 
We do not know Kumerle’s Lima. We 
have known the bean advertised as Hen¬ 
derson’s Dwarf Lima. We never consid¬ 
ered it worthy of a boom. It is a dwarf 
Carolina or a dwarf Sieva and not a Lima 
at all. We prefer bush beans to running 
beans, as they require less outlay in prepara¬ 
tion. Few pole beans, however, are suit¬ 
able for transforming into dwarfs, for the 
weight of the pods on long foot-stalks will 
always have a tendency to extend them 
Nature. Natural Size. Fig. 259. 
fresh, green Limas as long as we can keep 
frost out of the frames, which, here on 
Long Islaud, may he well into November. 
This alone will render the Dwarf Limas, to 
me at any rate, a welcome and, after this 
year, an indispensable addition to our list 
of vegetables. 
Henderson’s Dwarf Lima belongs to the 
section of Limas usually called Sievas and 
is a positively dwarf variety and without 
the least inclination to “run.” The plants 
are very bushy, low and stocky and their 
main stem does not rise over a foot above 
the ground, but it is freely branched and 
these shoots together with the flower-spikes 
raise the bight to some 16 or 20 inches. The 
plants have kept green and healthy all 
summer long, and since they first came in¬ 
to bloom they have remained continuously 
in flower and are still so, and this is a little 
better than the late Sievas have done. The 
flower-spikes are terminal, very long—often 
12 or 14 inches—and in several cases have 
borne 20 pods to a spike; blit the average 
number of pods matured is seven. The 
pods are about three inches long and con¬ 
tain two, three or four seeds in each, but 
mostly three. The beans are plump, of 
good form and average Sieva size, and of 
most excellent quality when cooked. The 
plant now before me is 16 inches high and 
36 inches across, very bushy and has .19 
flower sprays. It has 79 well developed 
C. L. ALLEN. 
How can the best quality and greatest 
quantity of beans be produced at the least 
cost ? My preference for general use is de¬ 
cidedly in favor of the dwarf or bush va¬ 
rieties, because they can be produced at 
least expense. Of course the desire to have 
a variety has much to do with one’s pref¬ 
erence. For iustance, if the Lima be de¬ 
sired, there is no alternative—poles must 
be used. The bush Lima, (Henderson’s) is 
a Lima only in uame and botanical classifi¬ 
cation—a pseudo-Lima. As for the flavor 
that we expect in the Lima, it does not 
possess it. While it is very prolific, and of 
fair quality, it is late, and wanting in that 
THE BATTLE OF THE BEANS. Fig. 257. 
delicious, nutty flavor and richness that 
lias made the Lima so noted. [Mr. Allen 
is mistaken. It is at least 10 days earlier 
