Other species of the genus also produce farinaceous seeds suitable for food, but in too small quantities to admit of being profitably cultivated in this country.
ENGLISH BEAN.
Horse-bean. Garden-bean, of the English. Vicia faba.
The English Bean differs essentially from the Common American Garden or Kidney Bean usually cultivated in this country; and is classed by botanists under a different genera, and not as a distinct species, as intimated in the "American Gardener." Aside from the great difference in their general appearance and manner of growth, the soil, climate, and mode of cultivation, required by the two classes, are very dissimilar: the American Garden-bean thriving best in a light, warm soil, and under a high temperature; and the English Bean in stiff, moist soil, and in cool, humid seasons.
English Bean.
The English Bean is a native of Egypt, and is said to be the most ancient of all the now cultivated esculents. It is an annual plant, with an upright, smooth, four-sided, hollow stem, dividing into branches near the ground, and growing from two to four feet and upwards in height. The leaves are alternate, pinnate, and composed of from two to four pairs of oval, smooth, entire leaflets; the flowers are large, nearly stemless, purple or white, veined and spotted with purplish-black; the pods are large and downy; the seeds are rounded, or reniform, flattened, and vary to a considerable extent in size and color in the different varieties,—they will vegetate until more than five years old.
Soil and Planting.—As before remarked, the English Bean requires a moist, strong soil, and a cool situation; the principal obstacles in the way of its successful cultivation in this country being the heat and drought of the summer. The seeds should be planted early, in drills two feet asunder for the smaller-growing varieties, and three feet for the larger sorts; dropping them about six inches from each other, and covering two inches deep. A quart of seed will plant about a hundred and fifty feet of row or drill.
Cultivation.—"When the plants have attained a height of five or six inches, they are earthed up slightly for support; and, when more advanced, they are sometimes staked along the rows, and cords extended from stake to stake to keep the plants erect. When the young pods appear, the tops of the plants should be pinched off, to throw that nourishment, which would be expended in uselessly increasing the height of the plant, into its general system, and consequently increase the bulk of crop, as well as hasten its maturity. This often-recommended operation, though disregarded by many, is of very signal importance."—M'Int.