P H A S E O L U S. 
60 
■fortnight earlier than thofe which are Town in the full 
ground. 
The firft crop intended for the full ground, (hould be 
put in about the middle of April; but thefe (hould have 
a warm fituation and a dry foil, otherwife the feeds will 
rot in the ground ; or, if the weather (hould prove fo fa¬ 
vourable as to bring up the plants, yet there will be dan¬ 
ger of their being killed by morning frofts, which fre¬ 
quently happen the beginning of May. 
The fecond crop, which lhould be one of the three 
large forts laft mentioned, (hould be fown about the mid¬ 
dle of May. Thefe will come into bearing before the 
early kinds are over; and, if they are of the fcarlet fort, 
will continue fruitful till the froft deftroys the plants in 
the autumn ; and thefe will be good as long as they lall. 
The manner of planting them is to draw (hallow furrows 
with a hoe, at about three feet and a half diftance from 
each other, into which you (hould drop the feeds about 
two inches afunder; then with the head of a rake 
draw the earth over them, fo as to cover them about an 
inch deep. 
If the feafon is favourable, the plants will begin to ap¬ 
pear in about a week’s time after fowing, and foon after 
will raife their heads upright; when the (terns are ad¬ 
vanced above ground, you fliould gently draw a little 
earth up to them, obferving to do it when the ground is 
dry, which will preferve them from being injured by 
(harp winds ; but you {hould be careful not to draw any 
of the earth over their feed-leaves, which would rot 
them, or at lead greatly retard their growth. After this, 
they will require no farther care but to flick them when 
the plants begin to run, and to keep them clear from 
weeds until they produce fruit, when they (hould be 
carefully gathered two or three times a-week; for, if they 
are permitted to remain upon the plants a little too long, 
the beans will be too large for eating, and the plants 
would be greatly weakened thereby. 
The large forts of kidney-bean muft be planted at a 
greater diftance, row from row; for, as thefe grow 
very tall, if the rows are not at a greater diftance, 
the fun and air will be excluded from the middle 
rows, therefore thefe (hould not be lefs than four feet 
diftance row from row; and, when the plants are 
about four inches high, the (lakes (hould be thruft into 
the ground by the lide of the plants, to which they 
will fallen themfelves, and climb to the height of eight 
or ten feet, and bear plenty of fruit from the ground up¬ 
ward. The Dutch and French preferve great quantities 
of the large Dutch beans for winter ufe, which they (tew, 
and make good with gravy and other fauces. 
The manner of faving the feeds of thefe plants is to let 
a few rows of them remain ungathered in the height of the 
feafon; for if you gatherfrom the plants for fome time, and 
afterwards leave the remaining lor feed, their pods will 
not be nearfo long and handfotne, nor will the feed be fo 
good. In autumn, when you find they are ripe, you 
(hould in a dry feafon pull up the plants, and fpread them 
abroad to dry; after which you may thralh out the feed, 
and preferve it in a dry place for ufe. 
For forward crops of dwarf kidney-beans, the early 
white and negro forts are the bell, and bear the longed. 
For the main crop, the fpeckled Batterfea and Canter¬ 
bury dwarfs are to be preferred, thefe being plentiful 
bearers, and of long continuance. To have a regular 
fupply of thefe from the middle or end of June to Odlo- 
ber, they (hould be fown from the middle of April to the 
middle or end of July, every fortnight or three weeks. 
For the firft crop the foil muft be dry and light, the fitua¬ 
tion warm and flickered, the drills drawn north and 
fouth. The other crops are better in the open quarters. 
When the weather is very dry, the beans to be fown fnould 
be foaked fome hours in water, or the drills may be well 
watered immediately before the beans are put in. 
The climbing forts or runners are not fit for early crops, 
but principally for fummer and autumn, from July to 
Michaelmas, or till froft puts an end to them. The firft 
3 
or fecond week in May is early enough to put in the firft 
crop of thefe; and the fecond may be planted any time in 
June. Two crops willfurnilh an abundant and conftant 
fupply. 
Mr. Thomas Holt, of Cork, has found that both the 
common and dwarf kidney-bean, as well as the common 
garden-bean and all their varieties, hitherto confidered by 
botanifts as annual plants, are, in reality, perennials. If 
they are cut down in the autumn before the appearance 
of (harp frofts, and the roots covered with liable litter, 
they will Ihootup again in fpring; and, though the pods 
do not come to maturity fo early in the fecond and fuc- 
ceeding years, yet the crop is not fo liable to be injured 
by the viciftitudes of the weather as that of frelh-fown 
plants. (New Monthly Mag. Dec. 1817.) 
To have early kidney-beans, they may be forwarded in 
a very moderate hot-bed at the end of March, and plant¬ 
ed out, when they are an inch or two high, and the wea¬ 
ther is favourable, in a warm border. They may be fown 
on the furface in the hot-bed, or in large pots; but it is 
bed to put them in fmall pots, three in each pot, becaufe 
they may be turned out for tranfplantation, with the ball 
of earth about their roots, and thus be fcarcely fenfible 
of their removal. They muft however be gradually in¬ 
ured to bear the open air, by taking olf the covering when¬ 
ever the weather is mild, and expcfing them by degrees ; 
refrelhing them frequently with water, when they cannot 
have the benefit of warm Ihowers. After they are tranf- 
planted they lhould be well watered to fettle the earth to 
their roots; and it will much forward their growth, if 
they are covered occafionally with hand-glaffes, when the 
nights are cold. After all, this crop will come into bear¬ 
ing only a fortnight fooner than plants fown in the natu¬ 
ral ground. 
But, to produce kidney.-beans for the table in April and 
May, or perhaps towards the end of March, they muft be 
raifed and continued in a hot-bed which muft be made 
by the middle or end of February. When the heat and 
(learn are abated, and the bed is covered fix or eight 
inches thick with mould, fow the feeds of one of the 
fmall early dwarf forts in drills fifteen or eighteen inches 
afunder, an inch deep, and two or three inches apart; 
give them air and refrelh them with water in fine weather. 
When they are fully grown, if they prefs much againlt 
the glades, raife them at bottom to give the plants room 
to grow freely. Or they may be raifed on a very mode¬ 
rate hot-bed in December or January ; and removed, when 
of a proper fize, into another hot-bed made as directed 
for cucumbers; only the dung need not be fo thick, lefs 
heat being required. When this bed is of a moderate 
warmth, lift the plants out of the other with a trowel, 
leaving as much earth about their roots as you can, and 
plant them at fourteen inches diftance row' from row, an.d 
four inches plant from plant. Give them a moderate 
watering, but afterwards be fparing of it; (hade the beds 
from noon till the fun is near off, and give them air when¬ 
ever the weather is mild. The frames lliould be two feet 
high in the back, (loping to fifteen inches in front, and 
the bed lliould be four feet broad. 
In hot-houfes or lloves, early kidney-beans may be had 
at almoft any time with eafe, by raifing them in pots or 
long narrow boxes. The bell forts for this purpofe are 
the early white, liver-coloured, or fpeckled, dwarfs. The 
pots or boxes filled with rich light earth may be placed 
upon the top of the wall which furrounds the bark-bed, 
or upon (helves in any convenient part of the houfe. 
When the feeds begin to fprout, moiften the mould ; and, 
when they are grown up, water them frequently, or at 
leall three times a-week. Where room is wanting, the 
feeds may be fet in fmall pots, and tranfplanted into 
larger ones for fruiting. 
The feeds of the more tender forts, which are cultivated 
for curiofity or ornament, (hould be fown in a moderate 
hot-bed in the fpring;and, when the plants come up, they 
muft be carefully tranfpianted into pots filled with light 
frelh earth, and plunged into a hot-bed to facilitate their 
taking 
