(1810+) Early Seed Catalog Bean Offerings

Names of bean varieties sold in seedsman's catalogs in early years in the United States were very changeable, and it is hard to know if any one variety was offered over many years...or if it was offered, was it really the same bean from decade to decade?   Heritage seed sellers today often quote the provenance of the seed they are growing for sale.  As in the art world, a solid provenance of who grew a bean over the years is respected.

I did learn something of interest this morning reading American Varieties of Garden Beans by William Woodbridge Tracy (1907).  The Vicia faba that was mentioned yesterday was brought to the United States and offered by seedsmen, the problem being it did not do well in our drier climate. 

 So one of the beans people were comfortable using was not available to them. 

 In 1810, William Booth of Baltimore only had a handful of beans in his catalog.  The Broad Windsor,  according to Tracy, was a vicia faba.  As was the mazagan.

Grant Thorburn in his 1817 "Kalendar" mentioned just seven or eight varieties.  He also offered Scarlet Runner early.  

About 25 years later he was offering over two dozen beans, and had started to categorize them. Refugee appears on both lists, and probably the Red Cranberry, and I count the Scarlet Runner for both since it was around at Thorburn's much earlier.  The others are acquiring variety names.

I really like Refugee's other name Thousand to One!  Refugee is a green snap bean, good for home garden and commercial growing.  The Scarlet Runner bean has remained in constant mention in popular literature and memoirs; it spans the flower garden and vegetable garden old favorites, being grown for porch shade and the pretty flowers.  

While McMahon, of  Philadelphia, by 1833, had the following listed.

The Corn Bean caught my eye.  It is a kidney pole bean, and considered one of best.  Its name changes several times, and by the time we get to the big catalogs at the turn of the 20th century you will probably find it as  Speckled Cut Short, or earlier as Corn Hill.  A description mentions it is a distinctive bean, not really looking like any other, but if you had to find a similar one it would be Lazy Wife!!  (Another of my favorites:-)

As a parting tidbit... beans used as flowers.  I will be coming back to that in some other post.