The Practical Garden-Book. L. H. Bailey

      Climax basket

      Baskets. For the picking and handling of fruit in the home garden, the common Climax basket, in various sizes, is the best receptacle. In these baskets the products may be sold. When the baskets are sent to market or to a friend, they should be neat and new looking; therefore keep them in a dry, dark place, as in an attic or loft, to prevent them from becoming warped and discolored.

      Bean. Under the general name of Bean, many kinds of plants are cultivated. They are all tender, and the seeds, therefore, should not be planted until the weather is thoroughly settled; and the soil should be warm and loose. They are all annuals in northern countries, or treated as such.

      The Bean plants may be classified in various ways. In respect to stature, they may be thrown into three general categories; viz., the pole or climbing Beans, the bush Beans, and the strict-growing or upright Beans (as the Broad or Windsor Bean). In respect to their uses, Beans again may be divided into three categories; viz., those which are used as string or snap Beans, the entire pod being eaten; those which are used as shell Beans, the full-size but immature Beans being shelled from the pod and cooked; dry Beans, or those which are eaten in their dry or winter condition. The same variety of Bean may be used for all of these three purposes at different stages of its development; but as a matter of fact, there are varieties which are better for one purpose than the other. Again, Beans may be classified in respect to their species. Those species which are best known are as follows: (1) Common Bean, or Phaseolus vulgaris, of which there are both tall and bush forms. All the common snap and string Beans belong here, as also the Speckled Cranberry types of pole Beans, and the common field Beans. (2) The Lima Beans, or Phaseolus lunatus. The larger part of these are pole Beans, but lately dwarf or bush varieties have appeared. (3) The Scarlet Runner, Phaseolus multiflorus, of which the Scarlet Runner and White Dutch Runner are familiar examples. The Scarlet Runner is usually grown as an ornamental vine, and it is perennial in warm countries, but the Beans are edible as shelled Beans. The White Dutch Runner is oftener cultivated for food. (4) The Yard-Long, or Asparagus Bean, Dolichos sesquipedalis, which produces long and weak vines and very long, slender pods. The green pods are eaten, and also the shelled Beans. The French Yard-Long is the only variety of this type which is commonly known in this country. This type of Bean is popular in the Orient. (5) The Broad Beans, of which the Windsor is the common type. These are much grown in the Old World for stock feed, and they are sometimes used for human food. They grow to one strict, central, stiff stalk, to a height of 2–4 or 5 ft., and they are very unlike other kinds of Beans in appearance. In this country, they are very little grown on account of our hot and dry summers. In Canada they are somewhat grown, and are sometimes used in the making of ensilage.

      The culture of the Bean, while of the easiest, often proves a failure as far as the first crop is concerned, because of planting the seed before the ground has become warm and dry. No vegetable seed will decay quicker than Beans, and the delay caused by waiting for the soil to become warm and free from excessive moisture will be more than made up by the rapidity of growth when finally they are planted. Beans will grow in most any soil, but the best results may be obtained by having the soil well enriched and in good physical condition. From the 5th to the 10th of May in the latitude of central New York, it will be safe to plant Beans for an early crop. The Beans may be dropped 2 inches deep in shallow drills, the seeds to lie 3 inches apart. Cover to the surface of the soil, and if the ground be dry, firm it with the foot or the back of the hoe. For the bush varieties, allow 2 ft. between the drill-rows, but for the dwarf Limas 2½ ft. is better. Pole Limas are usually planted in hills 2–3 ft. apart in the rows. Dwarf Limas may be sown thinly in drills.

      A large number of the varieties of both the green-podded and the wax-podded Beans are used almost exclusively as snap Beans, to be eaten with the pod while tender. The various strains of the Black Wax are the most popular string Beans. The pole or running Beans are used either green or dried, and the Limas, both tall and dwarf, are well known for their superior flavor either as shelled or dry Beans. The old-fashioned Cranberry or Horticultural Lima type (a pole form of Phaseolus vulgaris) is probably the best shell Bean, but the trouble of poling makes it unpopular. Dwarf Limas are much more desirable for small gardens than the pole varieties, as they may be planted much closer, the bother of procuring poles and twine is avoided, and the garden will have a more sightly appearance. Both the dwarf Limas and pole Limas require a longer season in which to mature than the bush varieties, and only one planting is usually made. But the bush varieties may be planted at intervals of two weeks from the first planting until the 10th of August. Each planting may be made on ground previously occupied by some early-maturing crop. Thus, the first to third plantings may be on ground from which has been harvested a crop of spinach, early radish or lettuce; after that, on ground where early peas have been grown; and the later sowings where beets or early potatoes have grown. String Beans for canning are usually taken from the last crop. One quart of seed will plant 100 ft. of drill; or 1 quart of Limas will plant 100 hills.

      Limas are the richest of Beans, but they often fail to mature in the northern states. The land should not be very rich in nitrogen (or stable manure), else the plants will run too much to vine and be too late. Select a fertile sandy or gravelly soil with warm exposure, use some soluble commercial fertilizer to start them off, and give them the best of culture. Aim to have the pods set before the droughts of midsummer come. Good trellises for Beans are made by wool twine stretched between two horizontal wires, one of which is drawn a foot above the ground and the other 6 or 7 ft. high.

      Bean plants are not troubled by insects to any extent, but they are sometimes attacked by blight. When this occurs, do not plant the same ground to Beans again for a year or two.

      Bedding. This term is used to designate the massing of plants in the open ground for the purpose of making a bold display of color. This color may be obtained with flowers or with strong effects of foliage. Bedding is ordinarily a temporary species of planting; that is, the bed is filled anew each year. However, the term may be used to designate a permanent plantation of plants which are heavily massed so as to give one continuous or emphatic display of form or color. Some of the best permanent bedding masses are made of the various hardy ornamental grasses, as eulalias, arundo, and the like.

      Some bedding is very temporary in its effect. Especially is this true of spring Bedding, in which the plants used are tulips, hyacinths, crocuses or other early-flowering bulbous plants. In this case, the ground is usually occupied later in the season by other plants. These later plants are usually annuals, the seeds of which are sown amongst the bulbs as soon as the season is far enough advanced; or the annuals may be started in boxes and the plants transplanted amongst the bulbs as soon as the weather is fit. Many of the low-growing and compact, continuous-flowering annuals are excellent for summer Bedding effects. Some of the best plants for this purpose are mentioned in the following list: