This section is from the book "Cooking Vegetables. Practical American Cookery", by Jules Arthur Harder. Also available from Amazon: The Physiology Of Taste.
Haricot. Bohne.
No. 116. - This is a vegetable of which there are many varieties. They are prepared for the table in several different ways. Some varieties, when young and tender, are eaten whole, and are known as String Beans. Later on they get hulled, when the seeds are ripe, and are called the Shell Bean (French, Flageolet). Next they are dried and then prepared in various ways. The White Marrow Fat, the Golden Wax, and the Dwarf Soisson are among the best varieties. To have Beans well cooked pure water must be used, some varieties having hard shells, which will not boil tender. This can be remedied by adding some carbonate of soda while they are being boiled. For early cultivation the American Garden Bush Bean is the earliest and hardiest. The Garden Bush or Pole Running Beans are tender annual plants, originally from the East Indies. The dwarf varieties require no poles or sticks for their support.
No. 117. - A succession of sowing can be made according to the latitude. Plant in drills about two inches deep, and from eighteen inches to two feet apart, according to the richness of the soil.
No. 118. - The earliest variety and very prolific.
No. 119. - Tender and succulent, and of excellent flavor. They continue longer in their green state than most varieties.
No. 120. - Similar in growth to the red valentine. It is a very prolific bearer, and the fact of the bean being white gives it additional value, as it enables it to be used as a shell bean.
No. 121. - A standard sort for market or private use. Is very prolific; pods and beans are large.
No. 122. - An excellent early variety, very productive, and of good quality.
No. 123. - The pods when ripe are of a waxy yellow transparent color, very tender, excellent, and delicious.
No. 124. - A variety similar to the black wax, except in color.
No. 125. - The pods are long, and almost of a transparent waxy white color, and are entirely stringless. In tenderness it excels almost all the other kinds. The beans when ripe are of medium size, white, and oval. It is an excellent Shell Bean for winter use.
No. 126. - Produce very large pods with great abundance; very fleshy, and exceedingly tender when cooked.
No. 127. - Pods perfectly round, and of a very light color. It is particularly well suited for pickling.
No. 128. - Produces pods of fair size of exceedingly rich and tender flavor. In color waxy white, and almost as transparent as glass. It is a stringless variety, very productive, and the pods though quick to develop are slow to harden.
No. 129. - Is an entirely different variety, the pods are large, long, and brittle, and entirely stringless. As a snap bean it excels all others in richness and tenderness of flavor, and has the further merit of being one of the best shell beans grown for winter use.
 
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