404 
THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT. 
be sown in March for the principal crop, and 
again in April and May for succession. For a 
late crop, Long Pod and Dutch Long Pod should 
be sown in June or the beginning of July. 
To obtain a very late crop, after gathering the 
summer produce of the Long Pod in a young 
state, let the soil be well watered, if dry, and in 
two or three days after the watering let the 
stems be cut down to within a few inches of the 
ground. Fresh shoots will soon push, and a 
better very late crop will be produced than if 
seeds had been sown late for the purpose. If a 
late crop is a very special object, then the plants 
intended to produce it should be cut down when 
in flower. 
Steeping the Beans in water before sowing 
accelerates their germination, and plants from 
steeped seeds maintain their superiority over 
those from seeds not steeped, all other conditions 
being the same. 
Gathering. — Some prefer Beans when very 
young, or when they have attained only one- 
fourth of their natural size. They should 
at all events be gathered before they appear 
black-eyed, that is, black at the hilum, or point 
of attachment to the pod. A portion, however, 
should be allowed to get older, in case they 
should be wanted for soups. 
To save Seed. —The sorts of which seeds are 
intended to be saved should be sown in the end 
of February; and as the best seeds are those in 
the first-formed pods, none of these should be 
gathered for cooking green, although those pro¬ 
duced afterwards near the top may be taken with 
advantage to those which are left below to ripen. 
When the leaves become withered and blackish, 
the stems should be pulled up, tied in small 
bundles, and set upright, where they will dry 
by exposure to the sun and air. The seeds will 
keep good for two years, after which time they 
are not to be depended on, though some will re¬ 
tain their germinating powers for five years or 
more. Seeds that have been long successively 
saved from plants grown in the same soil and 
situation are liable to degenerate. It is there¬ 
fore advisable to obtain a supply occasionally 
from a different soil and climate. 
Insects , &c. —See chapter on this subject. 
Fruit and Seed Enemies. —Bean Beetles, Mice. 
Leaf Enemies. — Black Aphis, Pea and Bean 
Weevils, Silver Y-moth. Root Enemies. —Mole 
Cricket. 
Beck's Dwarf Green Gem .—Stems 1 to foot high, 
branched, compact in growth; pods small, abundant, clus¬ 
tered, 3 inches long, containing about three small fine 
green Beans. A most prolific variety, later than Longpod, 
very desirable for small gardens. 
Green Longpod.— Stems 3 to 4 feet high; pods 4 to 
5 inches long, mostly erect, generally containing about 
four oblong Beans, which when fit for use are bright- 
green. Much valued for their green colour when cooked. 
A good bearer. 
Hardy s Pedigree Windsor . — Stems 2 to 3 feet high, 
robust; pods 5 to 6 inches long, containing about three 
large flat Beans, produced abundantly and generally 
curved downwards like the Longpods, between which 
and the Broad Windsor it seems to be intermediate. An 
excellent sort, very productive. 
Longpod . — Stems 2 to 3 feet high, of free growth, 
branching at the ground and producing from three to five 
stems; pods 7 inches long, containing from three to five 
medium-sized Beans of good quality. It is prolific and 
early. 
Seville Longpod .—Stems 2 feet high, sparingly branched; 
pods often 7 to 9 inches, containing about six Beans of 
excellent quality; the pods are rather sparingly produced. 
One of the earliest. 
Sutton’s Green Giant (fig. 1156). — A green-seeded coun¬ 
terpart of Longpod, and one of the most remarkable and 
Fig. 1156.—Bean—Sutton's Green Giant. 
popular Beans ever raised. Has long straight pods, and 
Beans excellent in flavour. 
Violet .—Stems robust; pods 6 inches long, containing 
from three to four fair-sized oblong Beans, of a pale-red 
colour, dull-violet when ripe. An excellent Bean, coming 
into use three days later than the Longpod, but the colour 
of the skin is objectionable. 
White Fan .—Stems 1J foot high, robust, much branched; 
pods abundant, produced in erect clusters from the very 
surface of the ground; 3 to 4 inches long, and containing. 
