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Show FARMERS DECEIVED BY SEED DEALERS Washington, D C, Dec 19 There I ' has recenflv been a considerable 1 amount of advertising, by the press ' and otherwise, of two beans for ' which highly extravagant claims are i j made, and for the seed of which ex- 1 orhltant prices are being a9ked One of these is being advertised under the ; name of the Shabon pea, with the 1 absurd claim that on three and one-half one-half acres thlB plant produced 70 i tons of hay and 350 bushels of seed The Shahon pea i6 nothing more! nor less than the plant properly known as the asparagus bean or yard long bean. It Is a close relative of I the cowpea--in fact, by most botan ' ists considered a mere variety in experimental tests with upward of 20 varieties of asparagus bean this do partment reached the conclusion that none of them could possibly compete i with the better varieties of cowpeas as a forage crop The stems as a rule, are much more slender and vln-ing, vln-ing, and the long pods, which lie on the ground, can not be harvested by machinery None of these 20 1 varieties is as productive either In j herbage or in pods, as the bettor varieties of cowpeas. The asparagus bean derives its name from the fact that the young green pods, when used as a vegeta ble, have somewhat the flavor of as paragui. As a vegetable the a6 paragus bean may come into 6ome what more general use than It has In the past, but as a forage crop it has I but little merit. Seed of the Shahon pea, which apparently is the com monest variety as asparagus bean namely, that luivlng pinkish buff seeds i Is offered by the advertisers at $5 j per pound The same variety Is offered of-fered by seedsmen in France, where the bean is more or less commonly grown, for 25 cents a pound Another plant which has been thor OUghly tested, both by the depart ment and the experiment stations -namely, the Jack bean Is also being extravagantly advertised, under the name of the Giant Stock Pod bean, or the Wataka bean, the seed being quoted at $15 per bushel While tho Jack bean produces an enormous amount of bpana per acre, they are not relished by stock, and no satisfactory means of utilizing them has yet been discovered oo |