The Lima, pole, and dwarf beans have properly been called the king of the table beans in all countries. But over the Northern States, even at the West, where the Lima beans succeed most perfectly, the dried commercial Limas grown at Santa Barbara, California, and at other points, are mainly used. But those who enjoy the home-grown beans fresh from the garden will fully agree with the writer that it is one of the most delicious vegetables of the garden and one of the most healthful of the nitrogenous foods.

As not a very large number of hills will supply an average family with the large Lima variety, it pays to plant the beans in pieces of sods with the eye downward, starting them in the hot-bed quite late. By transplanting the sods with beans attached when the ground gets warm, the crop will be advanced fully two weeks. In place of poles we have used woven wire five feet wide, supported by stakes along the line of row. The beans spread out on this support, and if the wire is grounded at the ends it appears to increase the thrift and yield of the plants. At the close of the season the wire is rolled up und kept under cover until wanted the next season. There is much modern support to the belief that grounding wire trellis at the ends benefits vines of all kinds by supplying an electrical current.

The bush Lima varieties are smaller in size, but such varieties as Henderson's Dwarf and Burpee's Dwarf are nearly as good in quality as the large white Lima, and they do not require poling.