ja —— eet oo * —— 
380 
side of the stem; that the straw of the autumnal 
sowing is better than the whole crop of the 
spring sowing; that the pods are long, and of a 
breadth corresponding to the shape of the seed ; 
that both the pods and the stems are good fodder 
for cattle; that the faba is the most useful of the 
legumes; and that, if a proper order is observed, 
the turnip ought to be mentioned next to corn, 
or at least next to the faba. Throphrastus no- 
tices some of the same characteristics of the 
faba, and adds that it puts forth many leaves on 
all sides, carries pods very near to the soil, and 
is the only one of the legumes which has a per- 
fectly erect stem. Cato mentions the faba among 
the crops which improve land, and directs it to 
be sown on a strong soil. Varro says that the 
time of sowing it is about the end of October, and 
that four modii of seed were required for a 
jugerum of land. Virgil directs the corn-seed of 
the faba to be steeped in an infusion of nitre and 
amurca, in order that the crop-seed might grow 
large in the pod. Columella says, “ Lard very 
rich naturally, or well dunged, is set apart for 
the faba; and if this land has rested a year, and 
is situated in a valley, which receives sap from 
higher grounds, the seed should be sown on the 
firm soil, then ploughed in, ridged, and harrowed, 
that so the seed may be covered the deeper; but 
if the land has carried a crop immediately before, 
let the straw be cut down, and twenty-four loads 
of dung spread on the jugerum ; after this, it may 
be treated like the land that has carried no crop 
the preceding year.” Palladius says, “The Greeks 
assert that the faba seed which is steeped in ca- 
pon’s blood is not hurt by destructive weeds; that, 
if infused in water the day before sowing, it will 
spring the sooner; and that, if sprinkled with 
water which has nitre dissolved in it, it is more 
easily boiled.” 
Varieties of the Bean —The bean was formerly 
treated as a species of vetch, under the name of 
Vicia faba; but it is now regarded as constitut- 
ing a genus of itself, under the name of Fada. 
Two principal subspecies of it are easily distin- 
guishable from each other; the one called botani- 
cally Kaba vulgaris arvensis, Faba vulgaris minor, 
or aba vulgaris aquina, and popularly field bean, 
small bean, horse bean, or grey bean; and the 
other called botanically Haba vulgaris hortensis, 
or Haba vulgaris major, and popularly garden 
bean, large bean, or white bean. But several 
well-established varieties are included in each; 
three well-established varieties may be included 
under either ; and therefore all the kinds of beans 
in cultivation may be arranged into three classes, 
—field beans, garden beans, and field or garden 
beans. 
The Scotch bean or common horse bean is al- 
most the only variety of field bean cultivated in 
Scotland; and though not so prolific as the tick 
beans cultivated in England, recommends itself 
by its superior height of stem, and especially by 
its greater hardiness. Its seed is from half an 
BEAN. 
inch to five-eighths of an inch in length, and three- 
eighths of an inch in breadth; irregularly com- 
pressed and wrinkled on the sides, and often a 
little flattened or hollowed at the end; of a light 
brownish colour, occasionally clouded and dap- 
pled with a darker colour, especially toward the 
end, and always black in theeye. Its stem mea- 
sures from three to five feet in height; and the 
average weight of its seed is 62 pounds per bushel. 
Yet the Scotch bean is far from possessing uni- 
formity of characteristics and appearance; and 
must be considered, much less as one defined va- 
riety, than as a very variable mixture of several 
varieties. The fact of such a mixture is readily 
and abundantly apparent in the vast and beauti- 
ful diversity of colours in the flowers of any Scot- 
tish bean-field, and may even be frequently de- 
tected at a glance in the diversified tints and 
minor characteristics of the seeds, In common 
with all varieties of beans, however, the Scotch 
bean is much affected in both shape and colour 
by peculiarities or changes of climate, soil, and 
culture ; and hence it is always plumper and 
whiter in a warm dry year than in a cold and 
damp one, when raised on a strong rich clay 
than when raised on any kind of light soil, and 
when cultivated in drills than when sown broad- 
cast. 
The tick beans, cultivated in the fields in Eng- 
land, are more prolific in pods and much more 
suited to light soils than the Scotch or common 
horse bean, and therefore have, for a very long 
period, been preferred to that bean by the great 
majority of English farmers. Yet the common 
tick, or variety of tick most extensively in use 
and highest in favour, is often called in England 
common horse bean or common field bean. Its 
seeds are smaller and more cylindrical than those 
of the Scotch bean, and are rounded at the ends. 
The weight of its seeds per bushel is about 67 
pounds.—The Harrow tick bean is smaller in all 
its parts, and better adapted for light soils than 
the common tick; and its seeds are remarkably 
plump and hardy.—Other subvarieties of tick 
bean are the flat tick, the Essex tick, the French 
tick, the May bean, and several more; but they 
differ from the common tick only in being culti- 
vated on different soils, or under different cir- 
cumstances. 
The winter bean, called in France Za féverolle 
@hiver, grows to the height of three or four feet, 
and is both very hardy and very prolific. Its 
seed is small, very plump, very heavy, smooth, 
and full in the sides, very black in the eye, and 
of the same colour as the Scotch bean, but with 
the addition of a dark greenish spot on the short 
side. This variety was introduced to England 
about the year 1825, and stands well the severest 
winters both there and in France.—The Heligo- 
land bean is very closely allied to the winter 
bean, and has even been pronounced identical. 
The pigeon is the smallest of all the field 
beans, and has its name from being used instead 
5 
a ee 
