Bean is a term used to designate the seeds of various plants, but in England is generally applied to those of different species belonging to the natural order Leguminosæ, as, for instance, the Common Bean (Faba vulgaris), the French, Kidney, or Haricot Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), the Molucca Bean (Guilandina bonducella), the Locust Bean (Ceratonia siliqua), the Tonka Bean (Dipterix odorata), and others. The term is also applied to the seeds of other plants widely different from each other and from the Leguminosæ. Of these the Pitchurim Bean, the seed lobes of Nectandra puchury, a relative of the Cinnamon and a native of tropical South America; St Ignatius' Bean, the seed of Ignatia amara, closely allied to Strychnos (q.v.), the source of strychnia, and itself strongly impregnated with the deadly qualities of that drug; the Egyptian or Sacred Bean, the seed of Nelumbium speciosum, an aquatic plant held in veneration by eastern peoples; and the remarkable Calabar Bean (q.v.), Physostigma venenosum, are a few of the many instances of plants whose seeds are popularly designated beans.
The common bean is a valuable source of food to man and animals in most of the temperate climates of the globe. It is of eastern origin, and was cultivated by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, who introduced it into Britain. The varieties are numerous, several of them being adapted to field cultivation. It is only used as human food in this country in the green or unripe state, but the ripe beans are valuable as food for pigs, horses, and cattle. The Greeks and Romans looked upon it as in some respects a sacred plant; in the Roman festival of Lemuralia (see LEMURES) the father of the family threw black beans over his head, repeating certain traditional words. Pythagoras forbade his disciples to eat beans. Beans were used by the ancient Greeks and others in voting by ballot, and a survival of this custom has lingered in the election of kings and queens at Twelfth Night and other feasts.
Beans of the ordinary kind belong to one species, Faba vulgaris, natural order Leguminosæ. The common field varieties are the Tick Bean, the Scotch Horse Bean, the White Cluster, the Chatteris, and the Winter Bean. The garden sorts (other than French beans) are larger, such as Longpods and Windsors, and are generally known as 'broad beans'—the proverbial 'beans and bacon,' used as food, especially by the poorer classes in England. Beans grow best on the heavier classes of soils, and are usually planted after wheat or some other grain crop. The most com- mon method of preparing the land is to plough in farm-yard manure early in autumn. The common concentrated manures, other than potash, give as a rule poor results. The seed, 2 bushels to bushels per acre, may then be drilled, or sowing may be delayed till February, when the land is found to be mellowed by the winter frosts; 3 bushels to bushels of seed is then required of some spring-sown variety; 3 inches is a good depth for winter planting, and 2 inches in spring; 18 inches is a convenient distance between the rows, allowing space for thorough horse-hoeing and hand-hoeing, which is necessary, as the bean is a dirty crop. Beans may be broadcast and covered easily by harrowing, but the system, although simple, is objectionable, because the land cannot be properly cleaned when the crop is growing, and rather more seed is necessary. Sowing may be done every second furrow while the land is being ploughed, by means of Reeve's patent sower attached to the plough. This system is well suited to planting beans in autumn on land being broken up from grass. Autumn-sown beans grow the heaviest crop, if they escape severe winter frosts or frequent sudden change of temperature, which is apt to kill them; they are also ready to harvest in England with the wheat-crop, and can be cut without injury in bad weather during harvest, which is a great convenience, as well as a saving of expense. Spring-sown beans are rather later in coming to maturity, which means in England dead-ripe. In Scotland, beans are cut at an earlier stage, as the straw is at times used for horse fodder, being usually chopped and mixed with hay or oat straw. Ripened beans are ground into bean-meal, used as food for horses and cattle, and sometimes made into coarse bread. Beans take longer to dry after being put into sheaf than cereal crops, but are not so easily injured by bad weather; they are stacked in the same way as wheat, openings being left through the stacks for ventilation, to prevent moulding and injury to the seed. Beans are liable to be attacked by mildew when grown under unfavourable circumstances. At times a fungus appears in the form of discoloured patches on the leaves and pods. If these diseases are largely developed, the crop is best ploughed down as a green-mannure after being laid by rolling. The most serious insect enemy is the Bean aphid or Black Dolphin, which begins at the top of the plant, and multiplying into myriads, covers and destroys it. If taken in time, the crop may be saved by cutting off the tops; if not, it has to be eaten off green by sheep, or if not required for food, it may be ploughed in. The humble-bee pierces through at the base of the flower to reach the honey, but this is not now thought to be injurious.
The French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and the Scarlet Runner (P. coccineus) are grown in most English gardens, and the pods eaten as vegetables. They should be grown on rich land in a fine tilt state; fresh manure is injurious to them. The runners, being hardy, are sown towards the end of April in rows to 3 feet apart; French Beans, being delicate, are not sown till June, when frost is gone. The runners, if the tops are nipped off the vines in June, continue to yield until autumn frosts set in; French beans go off much earlier.
The beans grown in the United States are for the most part either haricots or closely allied kinds.