King Horticultural

Donated to SSE in 1981 by bean collector John Withee of Lynnfield, Massachusetts and the Wanigan Associates. Withee acquired this variety from the Essex Co-op of Topsfield, Massachusetts. Although it is unclear where the Essex Co-op acquired its seed stock, a variety by this name was described by U.P. Hedrick in "The Vegetables of New York" published by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1928. Along with many synonyms, Hedrick provided that a variety by this name was first grown by a market gardener in Massachusetts and was introduced by various commercial companies with various names around 1894-1895. By the time Hedrick was writing, this variety was most commonly known as 'King Horticultural' but was little grown except in eastern Massachusetts and New York. SSE Accession # 100957