Part 6

=Flageolet and Haricot Beans= need the same treatment as kidney beans. All these subjects are tender and will not stand frost.

=Forcing Kidney Beans.=--The dwarf forcing varieties may be sown on hotbeds, with six inches of good soil on top, beginning in February. They must have plenty of air on mild days, and not be over-watered; at the same time they must not be allowed to dry out; the plants may stand a foot apart. Gathering should begin in such a frame about the end of April.

If there be an orchard-house available the beans may be sown in heat in boxes in February, and transplanted to the orchard-house. Or beans sown in this way in March may be transplanted to a warm border sheltered from slight frosts, with the possibility of giving ample protection from sharp frost by means of mats or litter overhead. But after all, forcing kidney beans is a job that requires a good deal of time or of labour, and is hardly for the single-handed gardener.

SCARLET RUNNER BEAN (Phaseolus multiflorus. Leguminosæ).

This noble bean gives the most reliable crop of late summer and early autumn vegetables. It is easy to grow, and cottage and hall alike enjoy its succulent fruit. There are many new and improved varieties, and it is now possible to grow beans a foot long, an inch deep, and as tender as possible.

The best runners are grown in soil trenched and manured some months in advance, but where space is a consideration we find that they follow spring cabbage well. By clearing the middle row of three in a bed of cabbage, room will be found to open a trench fifteen inches wide and two spits deep; this should be done late in April. Into the bottom of this trench a heavy dressing of very old, buttery manure (such as comes from the heart of an exhausted hotbed) should be dug deeply. The soil should then be returned and trodden firm, until the trench is four inches deep; rake the surface level and place the beans on it in two rows, the beans nine inches apart in the row, or even a foot will be none too far apart. Then return most of the rest of the earth, leaving a trench one inch below the general level of the garden. This leaves a useful depression for watering.

By the time the beans are well up and are ready for staking, the cabbage will be mostly cleared away, and will have taken no harm from their neighbours; indeed there need be no hurry to clear the last of the cabbages, which may prove useful to the end of June. A long, strong stake should be placed by each bean, and thrust a good foot into the ground. These stakes should incline inwards from each side of the double row, and be tied together at their intersection. These ties should be at a uniform height, and in the V-shaped crossing of the stakes other stakes should be laid lengthways, and also tied to the uprights. By these means a rigid hedge is provided, which will carry the great weight of haulm in safety. A second sowing may be made about the end of May, but if the beans are kept rigorously picked the plants will go on bearing right up to the early frosts. As the haulm reaches the tops of the stakes it must be pinched, in order to make it break from joints lower down. Weeds should be pulled up, and in dry weather a good soaking of water every three days will be a great help in promoting the setting of the beans.

Make a practice of gathering all the beans as fast as they come to perfection; it is important that none should be allowed to mature seed; one pod with ripe seed on a plant will certainly check the further growth of fresh beans.

DISHES.

=French Beans en Fricassé.=--Cut off the ends and strings of some young French beans. Cook them in salted water, then drain them well. Put them into a saucepan with two ounces butter and chopped onion, or if liked, garlic and parsley chopped very fine, with a little salt. Be careful to add some sauce if the beans dry up before they are completely cooked. Toss them in the pan for a few minutes, and before taking them off the fire add the yolks of one or two eggs (according to the quantity of beans) well beaten up, with a little water, the juice of a lemon, and some grated Parmesan cheese. Stir from time to time, never allowing them to boil, or the eggs will set. To keep the beans a good colour, put a pinch of salt, with a pinch of soda, in the water when boiling them.

=French Beans al Pomodoro.=--Take your French beans, cut off the ends and string. Wash in cold water, boil till tender, and drain. While still wet, put them into a baking dish with some good olive oil, some chopped onion and parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Put the dish on the fire with the cover on, and cook slowly. As the beans dry add the juice of some tomatoes or some good tomato conserve. Take care they do not burn.

=Beans with Cream.=--Cut off the ends, remove the strings, and cut into two or three pieces. Wash in cold water, drain, and boil until tender in salted water. Beat the yolks of three eggs, add half a cupful of cream, and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Heat thoroughly and add gradually a tablespoonful of vinegar; when smooth and thick pour over the beans, keep hot a few minutes, and serve.

=Beans with Parsley.=--String the beans, cut in strips, and cook until tender, then put them in melted butter. Sprinkle with minced parsley, keep warm for ten minutes, and serve.

=Beans à la Bretonne.=--Prepare according to directions given for beans with cream, using one quart of beans, drain and reheat with a tablespoonful each of butter and chopped onion; brown slightly. Season with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, add the juice of a lemon and a cupful of white stock or hot milk. Serve immediately.

=How to Preserve French Beans.=--The strings should be pulled off. Wash them, then cook them for ten minutes in boiling water. Take them out, and pour cold water over them, dry them, and put them into jars, and fill to the brim with salted water; cover, and tie up the tops, put the jars into hot water for an hour and a half without ever letting them actually boil or the jars might be cracked. They should be placed in a deep enough pan, so as to cover the jars to the necks.

=French Beans Boiled.=--String, and cut in crossway slices two pounds of French beans, put into abundance of boiling water, to which one tablespoonful of salt and a piece of soda the size of a pea have been added; this preserves the fresh green. If there is not plenty of water the beans will not cook properly. Boil for twenty minutes to half an hour. Drain through a colander and serve on a drainer.

=French Beans Sauté.=--Boil as above; after draining, return to the saucepan. Add a sprinkle of pepper and a tablespoonful of butter; shake well for three minutes and serve very hot.

BEETROOT (Beta vulgaris. Chenopodiaceæ).

As with all root crops, a soil fairly free from stones is preferred; a stony ground will produce malformed roots. A light sandy loam will grow the best beet, but any good garden soil will answer excellently. There should be no recent manure in the two upper spits, but a slight dressing of old manure beneath the second spit will work wonders.

A giant beet is far from desirable for cooking, as it requires such a monstrous great pan, since, if the taproot be broken, the beet will bleed and lose all its colour, and the cook will send anæmic-looking slabs of garnishing on the salads. Probably there is no better beet for private growing than Nutting’s dwarf red. The turnip-rooted beets are compact, it is true, but we do not think they can compare with this for flavour or tender texture.

Sow beet during April in shallow drills a foot apart, single the seedlings in May, and thin out three weeks later to eight inches distance. Keep the ground free from weeds by means of frequent use of the Dutch hoe. The roots may be used as soon as large enough, and the whole crop must be lifted in September, or early October. Choosing a bright dry day, lift them with a long tined fork most carefully, trim the leaves off two inches from the crown, and store in sand in a cool, frost-proof cellar. The utmost care must be taken not to bruise or break the roots.

=Swiss Chard or Leaf Beet.=--Three hundred years ago, before the introduction of beetroot, beets were grown for their foliage only, and Gerarde, who wrote in 1597, tells us that “the leaves were eaten as salad with oil and vinegar.”

The cultivation is much the same as for root beet, except that it can stand more manure, as it is the foliage which is required, and the ground does not need much preparation. At the end of the summer the leaves can be gathered, and, with a little protection from frost, the plants will bear for a long time.

The leaves can be eaten for salad or cooked like spinach with a little sorrel, and the midribs are treated as sea kale or cardoons. It will thus be seen it is a very useful plant.--W. F. GILES, Sutton and Sons, Reading.

ITALIAN DISHES.

=Beet Leaves Boiled.=--Take the young leaves of white beetroot, tie them in bunches, and put them into salted boiling water. They can be cooked in butter like Spinach, or served on buttered toast with Sauce Hollandaise.

=Beet “Gnocchi.”=--Wash well and remove the midribs of a bundle of beet leaves, boil, and then throw them into cold water, dry, and mince them very finely, put them into an earthenware pot with four ounces of freshly grated cheese, four fresh eggs, four ounces of curds or fresh milk cheese, a little grated nutmeg, and some salt. When thick, put it on a well-floured table and make a long roll the size of a finger, cut into pieces about two inches long, flour them well, and throw them into an earthen pot of boiling water.

As they come to the surface take them out, drain well, season with butter, a little grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and cheese. These must be cooked over a hot fire.--Leaves from a Tuscan Kitchen.