Lima bean

“ Another species P. lunatus, the Lima bean, a tall biennial with a scimitar-shaped pod (whence the specific name) 2 to 3 in. long containing a few large seeds, is widely cultivated in the warmer parts of the world.
The young pods of another leguminous climbing herb, Dolichos Lablab, as well as the seeds, are widely used in the tropics, as we use the kidney bean. The plant is probably a native of tropical Africa, but is now generally cultivated in the tropics. ”

“ The Lima bean bears during the entire year. The pine-apple culture has proved a success. The Palma Christi and bird-pepper grow into perennial plants, living and producing many years. The change of seasons in South Florida is imperceptible, while in more Northern clinics autumn, with stately tread and Tyrian-dyed train, assumes her sway, bearing fruits of scarlet and gold, that are gathered in haste, for fear the rude blasts will freeze out their luscious, juicy qualities; but here there is no suspense of vegetation. ”

“ Prices usually obtained are from two to three dollars a half bushel crate.
The growing of lima beans in Cuba has proved a gilt-edge undertaking for those who have been careful in the selection of seed and proper cultivation after planting. The price obtained in the United States has varied between $2 and $8 per hamper, or bean basket, with an average of perhaps $5. The crop is quickly grown and with sufficient labor to gather the beans at the proper time the grower is relieved of his only cause for worry. ”

“ The Lima Bean is said to be more like a pea than a bean, but whatever it be like, it appeared to me very indifferent. As to peas themselves, nothing can be worse. The achie fruit is a kind of vegetable, which generally is fried in butter ”

“ Lima Bean Soup.—Simmer a pint of Lima beans gently in just sufficient water to cook and not burn, until they have fallen to pieces. Add more boiling water as needed. When done, rub the beans through a colander. Add rich milk or water to make of the proper consistency, and salt to season; reheat and serve. White beans may be used in place of Lima beans, but they require more prolonged cooking. A heaping tablespoonful of pearl tapioca or sago previously soaked in cold water, may be added to the soup when it is reheated, if liked, and the whole cooked until the sago is transparent. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Don't let the beans, that you have taken out of the pod when making the fish, get dry and hard. They can be turned into a
Lima-Bean Man
Three beans and several strong, straight broom-straws you will need for making this comical little fellow, who, upright and independent, stands squarely on his own feet. That is a good thing for any one to do, let alone a little bean man (Fig. 150) . ”

“ Planted in August, they are excellent until frost; the very best for pickling. For an early shell-bean we recommend the China red-face; the white kidney and numerous other varieties are less certain and productive.
Running Beans are numerous. The true Lima, very large, greenish, when ripe and dry, is the richest bean known; is nearly as good in winter, cooked in the same way, as when shelled green. They are very productive, continuing in blossom till killed by frost. [Pg 63] In warm countries they grow for years, making a tree, or growing like a large grapevine. ”

“ Indian corn can be raised as easily as in this country, but is not much cultivated, both natives and colonists preferring other articles of food. Of garden vegetables, the Lima bean is much used by the Liberians—it grows most luxuriantly, the same stock producing several years, requiring little cultivation or replanting. The tomato and egg-plant are also indigenous to Africa, and grow there in abundance and of several varieties. ”

“ Lima beans are of very great commercial value, but are not sufficiently appreciated as a table food because it is not generally known that in a dry state they can be used in practically the same manner as are the common beans. In reality they are richer and more delicate in flavor than the common beans, and can be used in as many different ways. ”

“ Though several days earlier than the Lima, the Sieva Bean requires the whole season for its complete maturity; and even when planted early, and receiving the advantage of a warm summer and a favorable autumn, it is seldom fully perfected in the Northern States: for, though much of the crop may ripen, a large portion almost invariably is prematurely destroyed by frost. ”

“ Fresh Lima Beans. —Take a quart of fresh, shelled Lima beans, or three quarts of unshelled; parboil them in salted water for about twenty minutes, then take them from the fire, drain, and let cool in fresh water. Drain again, and place them in a sautoire with an ounce and a half of good butter, seasoning with half a pinch each of salt and pepper, and the third of a pinch of nutmeg. Cook for five minutes, tossing well; then moisten with two tablespoonfuls of cream, adding a pinch of chopped parsley; mix well together, and serve. ”

“ When to Plant.—Beans may safely be planted when the apple is in bloom, in May; not so early as peas, as beans are less hardy. The ground should be dry and warm. Beans of all kinds demand shallow planting, as the seeds must be lifted from the ground in the earliest process of growth. The seed swells, bursts, sends a shoot (radicle) downward, and the two parts of the seed, called the seed-leaves, are pushed up into the daylight. Small round beans can take care of themselves, as they turn easily in the soil, but lima beans often perish in the effort to get above ground. ”

“ A familiar illustration of environmental variation may be seen in lima beans. In any considerable number of plants one often finds smaller and larger pods, either sparsely or well filled with beans. If the beans from the small-podded, few-seeded variants are planted they will produce, apparently quite indiscriminately, large and small podded progeny, just as there will result a mixed progeny if only beans from the well-filled and large-podded kind are sown. In other words the plant fluctuates about a general average which typifies the usual or mass characteristics of the species. ”

“ Stem ten feet or more in height; leaves comparatively long and narrow, smooth and shining; flowers small, greenish-yellow, in spikes; the pods are four inches and a half long, an inch and a quarter broad, much flattened, green and wrinkled while young, yellowish when ripe, and contain three or four beans.
The Lima is one of the latest, as well as one of the most tender, of all garden-beans; and seldom, if ever, entirely perfects its crop in the Northern States. Little will be gained by very early planting ”

“ The vines make good hay, and the average yield of beans is about 1200 pounds to the acre, which at prices varying from five to ten cents per pound forms quite a satisfactory crop.
The kinds of beans grown in Cuba are almost unlimited. Various soils of the Island seem adapted to the legume family, and many varieties have been introduced not only from the United States but from Mexico and Central America. One indigenous bean, the botanical name for which has not been determined, is found growing wild along the southern coast of Pinar del Rio. ”

“ The Indian women of Cuba boil these beans in a weak solution of ashes in water until they become soft enough to pierce with a stout wire, when they string them and make rosaries. They also string a bean to hang around the necks of their babies, believing that it will act as a charm against the evil-eye. ”

“ Pole beans are not strictly annuals. In a climate where the winter does not destroy them they bear again the second year, and we believe yet longer. Gov. Pinney, of Liberia, on the African coast, stated in a lecture, speaking of the vegetable productions of that region, that the bean was a permanent vine like the grape, bearing its crops from year to year without replanting. The bush bean is strictly an annual. ”

“ Limas are the richest of beans, but they often fail to mature in the northern states. The land should not be very strong in nitrogen (or stable manure) , else the plants will run too much to vine and be too late. Choose 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 feet high. ”

“ It is quite at home on heavy land, but in common with nearly all other vegetables it thrives on a deep sandy loam. Considering the productive nature of the plant and its comparatively brief occupation of the ground, the common Bean must be regarded as one of our most profitable garden crops. Both the Longpod and Windsor classes should be grown. For general work the Longpods are invaluable; they are early, thoroughly hardy, produce heavy crops, and in appearance and flavour satisfy the world at large, as may be proved by appeal to the markets. ”

“ I have no root; I have no stem; or, if I have, they never move upward nor downward, as you say. Are you sure you are not mistaken?"
"Why, of course I'm not mistaken," cried the bean. "I feel within myself that I can grow; and I have absorbed so much moisture that I must soon begin."
Just then the bean's coat split from end to end, and for one or two minutes neither the stone nor the bean spoke. The stone was astonished, and the bean was a little frightened. However, he soon recovered his courage.
"There!" said he, showing the two packages he had been carrying; "these are my seed-leaves. ”

“ Black Beans were considered to be male, and white female, the latter being the inferior.——De Gubernatis relates several curious customs connected with Beans. In Tuscany, the fire of St. John is lighted in a Bean-field, so that it shall burn quickly. In Sicily, on Midsummer Eve, Beans are eaten with some little ceremony, and the good St. John is thanked for having obtained the blessings of a bountiful harvest from God. At Modica, in Sicily, on October 1st, a maiden in love will sow two Beans in the same pot. The one represents herself, the other the youth she loves. ”

“ It makes a fire-wood scarcely inferior to oak or hickory, and bears a bean besides, which constitutes a large part of the subsistence of the Mexicans and the Indians there. These mesquite beans make a very sweet and palatable dish, and horses, mules, cattle, etc. are especially fond of them. The Mexicans we met en route to California, were subsisting upon them almost entirely, and subsequently in wandering through a Pimo village, we found them in every storehouse. A Pimo belle, for a bundle of cigarritos, cooked us a dish of them, and we have eaten worse things in New York and Washington. ”

“ Beans, although rich in nitrogenous, are deficient in carbonaceous constituents; hence it is curious to note how almost invariably they are when eaten combined with some substance rich in carbon. The Hindoo, for instance, mixes lentils with rice and ghee or a form of clarified butter. In Yucatan and throughout the whole of central Africa, where a black bean is extensively used as food, they are well boiled in water, and eaten with pepper, salt, and pork. In this country, beans and bacon always appear at table together, and have done so for centuries. ”

“ As an ornamental garden plant the Bean has never received the attention it seems to deserve. A plant of Broad Beans grown singly is quite a stately plant, and the rich scent is an additional attraction to many, though to many others it is too strong, and it has a bad character—"Sleep in a Bean-field all night if you want to have awful dreams or go crazy," is a Leicestershire proverb: [34:3] and the Scarlet Runner (which is also a Bean) is one of the most beautiful climbers we have. ”

“ When dry their peculiar perfume develops still more and it is used as an odorous basis to make high grade [Pg 82] perfumes, and to flavor tobacco. The bean is a natural product and needs no cultivation, as a general rule; it is gathered in the Tonka forests existing in the Amazon territory and the District of Cedeno, in the Venezuelan Guianas. Tonka beans are a staple of great value in the regions watered by the Orinoco River and its tributaries, and almost the entire crop of Venezuelan Tonka beans are exported by the way of Ciudad Bolívar. ”

“ Beans were introduced by the Moors into Spain, whence they came to France and later to England. It is possible, however, that they were brought to Britain by the Romans. They are now largely imported from Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and the Netherlands. There are many varieties, as the Mazagan, the Windsor, the long-pod, &c., in gardens, and the horse or tick bean in fields. The soil that best suits is a good strong clay. The seed of the Windsor is fully an inch in diameter; the horse bean is much less, often not much more than half an inch in length and three-eighths of an inch in diameter. ”