Fe've Bohue.

No. 832. - The Lima Bean is one of the latest and most tender of garden beans. The stem is about ten feet high, and the leaves are smooth, shiny and narrow, yet comparatively long. The pods are about four inches long and an inch and a quarter broad, being flattened in shape, and containing from three to five beans. They are green and wrinkled when young, and of a yellowish color when ripe. The pods are tough and parchment-like in all stages of their growth, and are never eaten. The Beans when either green or ripe, are universally esteemed for their peculiar flavor and excellence. If gathered when suitable for use in their green state, and dried in the pods, they can be preserved during the winter. When required for use, they should be shelled, then soaked for a short time in clear water, and cooked the same as green beans. When they are treated in this manner, they will be found to be nearly as tender and well flavored as when freshly plucked from the plants. The Lima Bean seldom perfects its crop in the Northern States, as only a small portion of the pods attain a good size, being destroyed by early frost.

Culture

No. 833. - Commence planting when the weather is settled and the soil is warm and in good working condition. Procure a number of poles six feet in length and set them out three feet apart each way. Plant five or six Beans in each hill, covering them with one inch of soil and being careful to set each Bean with its germ downward. After they have grown for awhile and before they begin to run, pull up the weakest and leave but three of the most vigorous plants in each hill. As they increase in height they should be tied to the poles with a soft, fibrous material. When they have ascended to the tops of the poles the ends should be pinched off. The ends of all branches that rise above that height should also be treated in the same way. This prevents them from running into vines and tends to make them blossom earlier and bear sooner and more abundantly. When cultivated near the Sieva, the varieties readily hybridize and the Lima Bean rapidly degenerates. Plants grown in the Southern States are healthy and vigorous and produce large Beans of excellent quality.

Green Lima Beans

No. 834. - This is a sub-variety of the common Lima Bean, differing from it principally, in the pea-green color of the seed. It will remain longer on the plant without becoming hard, and is considered more tender than other kinds.

Mottled Lima Beans

No. 835. - This is also a sub-variety of the common Lima Bean. The seeds are of a dull white, or greenish-white color, mottled or clouded with purple.

Note. - For the prepartion of Lima Beans. See Article on Beans.