The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 88

Wax-bean. b.u.t.ter-bean. Algerian. D'Alger, of the French.

Stem six or seven feet high, with large, broad foliage and purple flowers; the pods are five inches long, nearly as thick as broad, sickle-shaped, green at first, but soon change to a fine, waxen, semi-transparent cream-white,--the line marking the divisions being orange-yellow. At this stage of growth, the color indicates approaching maturity; but the pods will be found crisp and succulent, and are in their greatest perfection for the table. When ripe, they are nearly white, much shrivelled, and contain six or seven seeds.

When cultivated for the ripened product, the seed should be planted as early in the season as the weather will permit. The plants will then blossom in eight or nine weeks, afford young pods in about eleven weeks, pods for sh.e.l.ling in thirteen or fourteen weeks, and ripen in a hundred and twenty-four days. Plantings for green pods may be made until the first of July.

At the time of harvesting, the seeds are deep indigo-blue, the hilum being white. They are oblong, often shortened abruptly at the ends, half an inch long, nearly the same in depth, and three-tenths of an inch thick. Fourteen hundred seeds measure a quart, and will plant a hundred and seventy-five hills.

Its fine, tender, succulent, and richly colored pods are its chief recommendation; and for these it is well worthy of cultivation. They are produced in profuse abundance, and continue fit for use longer than those of most varieties. In moist seasons, the pods remain crisp and tender till the seeds have grown sufficiently to be used in the green state. The ripe seeds are little used.

MOTTLED CRANBERRY.

A comparatively strong-growing, but not tall variety. The flowers are white; the pods are short and broad, four inches and a half long, three-fourths of an inch wide, yellow at maturity, and contain four or five seeds.

If planted early, the variety will blossom in seven weeks, yield pods for the table in eight or nine weeks, green beans in eleven weeks, and ripen in a hundred days. When planted after settled warm weather, it will ripen in ninety days.

The ripe seeds are white, the eye surrounded with a broad patch of purple, which is also extended over one of the ends: they are of a rounded-oval form, half an inch long, and three-eighths of an inch in width and thickness. A quart contains fourteen hundred and fifty seeds, and will plant a hundred and fifty hills. As the plants are of dwarfish character, the seeds are sometimes sown in drills; a quart being required for two hundred feet.

The Mottled Cranberry is moderately productive, and the young pods are tender and well flavored: the seeds, while green, are farinaceous, and, though of good quality when ripe, are but little used.

MOTTLED PROLIFIC.

Plant branching, healthy, and vigorous, six feet or more in height; flowers purple; the pods are four inches and a half long, usually produced in pairs, green at first, washed with purple when more advanced, light-brown at maturity, and contain six seeds.

It is a late variety. Plantings made during the first of the season will not produce pods for use until the last of July, or beginning of August; but, if these are plucked as they become of suitable size, the plants will continue in bearing until destroyed by frost.

The ripe beans are drab, thickly and minutely spotted with black, and also distinctly marked with regular lines of the same color. They are of an oblong form, flattened, often squarely or diagonally shortened at the ends, nearly half an inch in length, and three-tenths of an inch in width. A quart contains thirty-one hundred seeds, and will plant about three hundred hills.

As a sh.e.l.led-bean, in its green or ripened state, the variety has little merit. Its recommendations are its fine, tender pods, its remarkable productiveness, and its uniformly healthy habit.

PReDHOMME. _Vil._

Introduced from France. Plant four or five feet high, with broad, deep-green, blistered foliage and white flowers; the pods are nearly cylindrical, three inches long, green while young, cream-white when ripe, and contain from six to eight seeds, set very closely together.

The ripe beans are dull-white, veined, oblong, often shortened at the ends, a third of an inch long, and nearly a fourth of an inch in width and thickness. A quart contains about thirty-five hundred seeds, and will plant three hundred and fifty hills.

Early plantings will blossom in eight weeks, afford pods for the table in about ten weeks, and ripen in a hundred and eight days. It may be planted for its green pods to the first of July.

It is of little value as a sh.e.l.led-bean in its green state. When ripe, it is of good quality, and, as a string-bean, one of the best; the pods being very brittle, succulent, and fine flavored. They remain long upon the plants without becoming tough and hard; and are tender, and good for use, until almost ripe. On account of their thin and delicate character, the seeds, in unfavorable seasons, are often stained and otherwise injured by dampness at the time of ripening.

PRINCESS. _Vil._

A French variety. Plant six feet or more in height, with lively-green foliage and white flowers; the pods are five inches long, pale-green while young, yellow at maturity, and contain six or seven, and sometimes eight, seeds.

The ripe bean is white, egg-shaped, two-fifths of an inch long, and a fourth of an inch thick: nearly three thousand are contained in a quart, and will plant three hundred and fifty hills.

The variety somewhat resembles the Predhomme; but the seeds are larger and brighter, the pods are longer, the seeds are less close in the pods, and it is some days earlier. It ripens in about three months from the time of planting. A good sort for stringing, and of excellent quality when ripe.

RED CRANBERRY.

This is one of the oldest and most familiar of garden-beans, and has probably been longer and more generally cultivated in this country than any other variety.

The plants are five or six feet high, of medium strength and vigor; flowers pale-lilac. The pods are quite irregular in form; often reversely curved, or sickle-shaped; four inches and a half long; yellowish-green while young; clear-white when suitable for sh.e.l.ling; yellowish-white, shrivelled, and contorted, when ripe; and contain five or six seeds.

Its season is intermediate. If planted early, the variety will blossom in seven weeks, yield young pods in nine weeks, green beans in eleven weeks, and ripen in ninety-five days. In favorable seasons, the crop will ripen if the seeds are planted the last of June; but, for the young pods or for green beans, plantings may be made to near the middle of July.

Seeds clear, deep-purple, the hilum white, round-ovoid, slightly compressed, half an inch long, and about three-eighths of an inch in depth and thickness. Fourteen hundred and fifty seeds are contained in a quart, and will plant a hundred and fifty hills.

It is a hardy and productive variety, princ.i.p.ally grown as a string-bean. The pods are succulent and tender; and these qualities are retained to a very advanced stage of growth, or until quite of suitable size for sh.e.l.ling. The dark color of the bean, which is to some extent imparted to the pods in the process of cooking, is by some considered an objection; and the White Cranberry, though perhaps less prolific, is preferred. As a sh.e.l.led-bean, it is of good quality in its green state; but, in its ripened state, little used, though dry and farinaceous.

RED ORLEANS.

Scarlet Orleans.

Five to six feet high; flowers white; the pods are sickle-shaped, five inches long, green when young, often tinged with red when more advanced, yellow at full maturity, and contain five or six seeds, packed closely together.

It is one of the earliest of the running varieties. Spring plantings will blossom in about seven weeks, afford pods for the table in eight weeks, green beans in eleven weeks, and ripen in eighty-five-days.

Planted later in the season, pods sufficiently large for stringing may be gathered in six weeks, and the crop will begin to ripen in about seventy days. As a string-bean, the variety may be planted until the first of August.

At the time of harvesting, the ripe seeds are of a bright blood-red color, but change rapidly by age to brownish-red. They are of an oblong form, often squarely or diagonally shortened at the ends by contact with each other in the pods, half an inch long, and three-tenths of an inch broad. A quart, which contains nearly twenty-four hundred seeds, will plant about two hundred and seventy-five hills.

The Red Orleans is quite prolific, and a desirable sort for soups and stews. The young pods are tender, and well flavored; but its remarkable precocity must be considered its chief recommendation.

French writers describe the ripe seeds as exceeding the above dimensions; but specimens received from Paris seedsmen correspond in size, form, and color with the description before given.

RHODE-ISLAND b.u.t.tER.

Plant seven feet and upwards in height, with large, broad, deep-green, wrinkled foliage; flowers blush-white; the pods are six inches long, nearly three-fourths of an inch broad, green while young, paler when more advanced, cream-white and much shrivelled when ripe, and contain seven seeds.

If planted early in the season, green pods may be plucked for the table in nine or ten weeks, pods for sh.e.l.ling in twelve weeks, and the crop will ripen in a hundred and twenty-three days. Planted early in June, the pods will generally all ripen; but, if the planting is delayed to the last of the month, the crop will but partially mature, unless the season prove more than usually favorable. The vines will, however, yield a plentiful supply of pods, and also of green beans.

The seeds, at maturity, are cream-yellow, with well-defined spots and stripes of deep yellowish-buff. They are broad-kidney-shaped, flattened, five-eighths of an inch long, and nearly half an inch broad. The cream-yellow gradually changes by age to brown, and the markings become relatively darker. Fourteen hundred seeds are contained in a quart, and will plant a hundred and fifty hills.

The variety yields abundantly; and the large pods are tender, succulent, and excellent for table use. The beans, in their green state, are of good quality, though little used when ripe.

SABRE, OR CIMETER.

Stem seven or eight feet high; leaves broad, large, deep-green, and much wrinkled or corrugated; flowers white; pods large, broad, and thin, curved at the ends in the form of a sabre, or cimeter, green when young, cream-white when ripe, and contain eight beans.

The variety will blossom in eight weeks, afford young pods for the table in ten weeks, green beans in eleven weeks, and ripen in a hundred days, from the time of planting. If sown in June, the crop will mature in ninety days. Plantings for the green seeds may be made till the last of June, and for the young pods to the middle of July.

The ripe seeds are clear-white, kidney-form, three-fourths of an inch long, and three-eighths of an inch broad. Sixteen hundred are contained in a quart, and will plant a hundred and sixty hills.