ven weeks,
produce pods for the table in less than nine weeks, and ripen in about a
hundred days. When grown for the ripened crop, it should have the
advantage of the entire season; but, when cultivated for its young pods,
plantings may be made till the first of July.

Seeds yellow, with a narrow, dark line encircling the hilum:
round-ovoid, half an inch long, and three-eighths of an inch in breadth
and thickness: thirteen hundred and fifty are contained in a quart, and
will plant a hundred and twenty-five hills.

The variety is hardy and prolific; of good quality as a string-bean, or
for shelling in the green state. When ripe, the seeds are nearly equal
to the White Marrow for baking, though the color is less agreeable.

* * * * *

ASPARAGUS-BEAN.

Long-podded Dolichos. Dolichos sesquipedalis.

The Asparagus-bean, in its manner of growth, inflorescence, and in the
size and character of its pods, is quite distinct from the class of
beans before described. It is a native of Tropical America, and requires
a long, warm season for its full perfection.

The stem is from six to seven feet high; the leaves are long, narrow,
smooth, and shining; the flowers are large, greenish-yellow, and
produced two or three together at the extremity of quite a long
peduncle; the pods are nearly cylindrical, pale-green, pendent, and grow
with remarkable rapidity,--when fully developed, they are eighteen or
twenty inches long, and contain eight or nine seeds.

These should be sown as early in spring as the appearance of settled
warm weather; and the plants will then blossom in ten or eleven weeks,
afford pods for use in fourteen weeks, and ripen off their crop in
gradual succession until destroyed by frost.

The ripe seeds are cinnamon-brown, with a narrow, dark line about the
hilum; kidney-shaped, half an inch long, and a fourth of an inch broad:
nearly four thousand are contained in a quart, and will plant four
hundred and fifty hills.

The seeds are quite small, and are rarely eaten, either in a green or
ripe state. The variety is cultivated exclusively for its long, peculiar
pods, which are crisp, tender, of good flavor, and much esteemed for
pickling. It is, however, much less productive than many of the running
kinds of garden-beans, and must be considered more curious than really
useful.

* * * * *

LIMA BEAN.

Phaseolus lunatus.

Stem ten feet or more in h