Thus it appears, that chemical action, and the functions of vegetable life, are antagonist, the one to the other; and thus the principle laid down in the preliminary observations is made good; viz., that chemical action decomposes the parts of the vegetable being, and forms eompounds qualified to become the food of plants; and regetable vitality, in its turn, seizes upon the products of chemical action, and appropriates them to the formation and growth of the parts and organs which constitute the vegetable organized being. SECTION II. NATURAL HISTORY AND CULTIVATION OF ESCULENT VEGETABLES OF THE LEGUMINOUS TRIBE. PART I. Subject 1. THE GARDEN BEAN :-Vicia Faba. Leguminósæ, X VII. Class xvi., and Order iv., Diadelphia Decandria, of Linnæus. 20. The Bean is a hardy annual, rising from two to four feet high, having thick angular stalks, with alternately pinnated, rather glaucous leaves. The flowers are papilionaceous; the colour, mostly white, or with a tint of blue, and a black spot on the alæ or wings, succeeded by erect pods, woolly within, and containing a row of compressed seeds. The blossoms are highly fragrant, the odour resembling that of the orange-flower, blended with cinnamon. "The Bean," says Loudon, (No. 3612,) “is a native of the East, and of Egypt, and it has been known in the country from time immemorial, having, probably, been introduced by the Romans. The seed of the bean offers to the student of vegetable physiology, one of the most ready and familiar illustrations of the structure of a dicotyledonous seed: as an example, the reader is referred to the wood-cut and accompanying description given in June. Art. Testa. 21. There are above fifteen varieties cultivated in these islands, o which the six following are selected as appropriate to gardens of moderate dimensions:-one or two are sufficient for small gardens. Early Mazagan, Toker, Broad Spanish, Sandwich, The first is hardy, and the best flavoured of the early sorts: the Long-pod, the Toker, and Spanish, are good bearers, and they may succeed the two former. The Sandwich has long been approved for fruitfulness, and the Windsor for flavour, but it is not quite so prolific. The Windsor and Long-pod appear to hybridize to the advantage of both, as respects flavour and productiveness. 22. Cultivation. The Mazagan for early crops may be sown in October, November, December, and January, in a warm border facing the full sun; but the most certain method of proceeding, is to select a small spot in the warmest border, about the extent of a two-light hot-bed frame, and sloping a little to the south. Work the ground till it become quite fine, then rake off about three inches of the surface, and sow the beans an inch apart every way. Cover them equally with fine earth to the depth of three inches, and at the approach of, and during frost, protect the bed either with a frame and lights, by a covering of mats supported on sticks, or by leaves of fern. Give air, and remove the covering when the weather has been for some days mild; and in February or March, as soon as it appears somewhat settled, dig and manure the ground intended for the beans, and transplant them into small drills two inches deep and three inches apart, the rows being two feet asunder. Care should be taken to ease the beans out of the seed bed, with as much earth as possible adhering to the roots, and to place them evenly in the drills; then lay the earth pretty high about the stems. Let the spot of ground be as much as possible sheltered from cutting winds, and protect the young plants in very severe weather by evergreen boughs or leaves of fern. Transplanting is believed to accelerate the fruiting of beans by a week or more: some recommend the practice of pulling off the old bean at the time of moving the beans, and then, pruning off the end of the tap root; but the practice cannot be justified, as the cotyledons of the seed are the organs of nutriment to the young plant during its early progress. Some gardeners make a practice of transplanting all the bean crops from seed beds; and it is certain that seed beds can at all times be readily protected by coverings in hard weather. 23. For main summer crops, sow the Toker, Spanish, Sandwich, and Windsor beans; or Windsor and the long-pod, the seeds placed alternately in the drills to promote the hybridization of the two varieties. Let the rows be three or four feet asunder, and the beans four or five inches apart. Abercrombie says, "for the large beans, you should always choose the most open situation. Dibble the holes all of equal depth, and strike the earth upon them with the dibber as you go on." It may be questioned, whether it be not in all cases the better way, where the garden will admit of it, to set the beans in long single rows, or at the most, in never more than two rows adjoining. The rows, when numerous, take up more room, and the beans crowd and draw up each other into long unsightly haulm, which is very liable to be injured by winds and heavy rain. In sowing the beans, place them at regular distances, in drills; draw the earth over them, and press it down with the spade; then rake the ground, so as to leave a perfectly smooth surface. Cobbett, in his English Gardener, says, the earth on the drills should be "trodden down with the whole weight of the body of a stout man; for the more closely they are pressed into the ground, and the ground is pressed on them, the more certainly and the more vigorously will they grow; and the more difficult, too, will it be for the mice to displace them." (Number 123.) Succession crops are obtained by planting at periods of about three or four weeks apart, from the last week in January to the beginning of June. The early autumnal sowings require, as has been said, a warm sheltered border, and a sunny situation, sometimes a covering; but these succession spring sowings should have a moister situation, and more full exposure in the garden. "Try, also," says Abercrombie, "a late planting in July of the white blossom and mazagan, in a strong moist situation: they will sometimes furnish a supply towards Michaelmas." Beans prefer a rich and rather moist soil, but will prosper fairly in most common soils. Subsequent culture. As the beans advance in growth, draw earth to the stems, and keep the ground clear from weeds; commence this work when the beans are five or six inches high, and repeat it once or twice. When the beans are in full blossom, and the stalks grow tall and rank, particularly in very wet seasons, nip off the tops of the stalks. Most gardeners are of opinion that topping improves the crops in quality and quantity. The aphis, or black insect, but too frequently covers the upper part of the stems. Topping is, I believe, found to be pretty effectual, not only as a preventive, but in curing the disease when it does not extend below the upper blossoms. The quantity of seed for early crops is estimated at one pint for eighty feet of row: for the main crops a less quantity may suffice, as the larger beans are to be set further apart. Subject 2. PEA:-Pisum Sativum. Leguminosa. Class xvii. and Order iv. Diadelphia Decandria, of Linnæus, 24. The Pea is a hardy annual, native of the south of Europe, and has long been cultivated. "It was not common, however, in Elizabeth's time, as Fuller informs us that peas were brought from Holland, and were 'fit dainties for ladies, they came so far and cost so dear."" (Loudon, 3597.) The pea is a climber, has pinnated tendrilled leaves, and produces papilionaceous flowers, on footstalks, from the axils of the leaves, which are succeeded by pods, usually in pairs, containing the seeds, the part of the plant used as food. There is one exception in the variety called the sugar-pea, in which the tough membrane, or parchment of the pea, is wanting. This sort is sometimes boiled whole, and eaten as kidney-beans, or it is made into a pickle. The varieties of peas are very numerous: Loudon (Number 3599,) enumerates twenty-three; but seven principal sorts may be cultivated with advantage, if there be sufficient space of ground to admit of succession crops:-viz. Early white Warwick, a new, highly-flavoured variety, suitable to field or garden culture. Early frame, an early and excellent bearer. Early Charlton, equally suitable to late as to early crops. Blue Prussian, a prolific, superior pea, for the middle crops. Blue Imperial: the dwarf is a fine rich pea, and does not attain much more than a yard in height; all the Imperials produce rich, pulpy peas. Knight's marrowfat, of tall luxuriant growth, very rich in flavour, and a fine bearer. Spanish dwarf, a very short grower, hardy, and very prolific; not to be sown, however, till March. Woodford marrow, full of flavour, of slow growth, admits of two or three sowings from March to mid-June. 25. For early crops, sow a few drills of the early sorts in a warm sheltered border in November and December; these may come in by May and June, but it is very uncertain. "To forward an early crop, some gardeners pinch off the leading shoot when the peas are in blossom,-a device which accelerates the setting and maturity of the fruit." Another mode is to sow in lines from east to west, and to stick a row of spruce fir branches along the north side of every row, sloping, so as to bend over the plants at about a foot from the ground. "As the plants advance in height, vary the position of the branches so as always to protect the peas from perpendicular cold or rain, and yet to leave them open to the full influence of the winter and spring sun.' "Mr. Knight sowed peas in the open air, and others in pots, on the first day of March. In the last week of the month, those in pots were transplanted into rows in the open ground. On the 29th of April, the transplanted peas were fifteen, and the others four inches high; and in June, the former ripened twelve days before the latter." (Loudon, 3607.) An early crop of peas is of great consequence; but the difficulty is to obtain it with safety. The following method is, doubtless, known to many practical gardeners, but not, perhaps, to persons in private life. It appears to be unexceptionable where materials and proper machinery are at hand. The season will be from Christmas to March. Procure strips of turf from a common, or meadow, of short grass; cut them to any required length to suit that of a wall, or fence, facing to the south. Each turf may be a yard or four feet long, four or five inches broad, and two or three inches thick. Reverse the turfs, and cut out, with a sharp knife, an angular strip of the soil along the middle of the earthy side. The groove thus formed, ought to be an inch and a-half deep. Scatter early peas in the groove pretty closely, so that the seeds may nearly touch each other; then cover them with rich, fine earth, or with the soil cut out, after having mixed it with one-third of reduced stable manure, and passed the compost through a wire sieve. Fill the groove entirely, and pat down the earth till it become pretty firm; then place these turfs on a vinery floor, or in a hot-bed frame, the latter to be covered with lights, and also mats, if frost be severe. These preparations being completed, it will be evident that, according to the heat applied, the process will be more or less rapid; but, at all events, protection from vermin and bad weather will be secured. Moisture being duly afforded, the peas will vegetate; and when they have attained the growth of two or three inches, they, with the turfs, are to be transferred to the open air, and placed in a drill two feet in front of a south wall or fence. Two circumstances should be attended to, to render the operation complete. The first is, that if the peas have been excited in a vinery at work, the turfs ought to be placed in a vacant frame, or green-house, for three or four days, to become inured by degrees to a change of situation. The second, that, in order to guard against future drought, a trench should be opened under the fence, six inches deep and wide, and be half filled with fresh maiden earth. The earth thus prepared should then be saturated with water, left a day to settle, and covered with half the soil that had been digged out of the trench, or so much of it as to allow the peas, when the turfs are laid in the soil, to be earthed up to the height of half an inch; a gentle watering may then be given to settle the soil and refresh the plants. When these have grown an inch, a little more earth should be drawn to them, and when they rise three inches above the last earth, short branchy sticks should be stuck in the ground, close to the plants, along the whole line, on the south side of them. The sun will attract the peas, and the sticks will protect, as well as support them. Taller pea-sticks will ultimately be required; but this variety rarely grows above a yard high. |