There are a lot of ways to go with this question, depending upon geographical region, individual preferences, and how the beans will be used. If you want green stringless snaps, both Emerite and Fortex are outstanding. Of the two, Fortex is sweeter & more delicious raw; but the long pods are very susceptible to wind bruising, so it needs some shelter from the wind for best results. Emerite is shorter, firmer, and less sweet... but the straight, smooth pods make it one of the best for canning. In my climate, Emerite has had consistently better yields than Fortex. Both varieties are very slow to develop strings, and are outstanding frozen. In warmer climates, Rattlesnake has proven to be a better performer. Like the two above, it is round podded. And although I have not grown any of the half runner beans, they too do well in warmer climates, and some who grow them speak highly of their flavor. If you prefer your beans to be richly flavored, the old fashioned Kentucky Wonder is still hard to beat. Yes, they need to be picked young before strings develop, but given that, they are tender & delicious - and if kept picked, the yield can be huge. Some of the flat Romano beans are also richly flavored... and a few of those (such as Early Riser) have short DTM's. Goldmarie is a pole Romano-type wax bean, with very sweet, very long pods (to 10-11") - and a very short DTM. There are many Romano-type heirlooms, some with an almost pea-like sweetness, and some with the benefit of good shelly beans if let go to maturity. Bosnian Pole is one of those. I've grown quite a few purple-podded beans, and have found little to distinguish them other than their color. The only exception to that was an heirloom (Czechoslovakian) which far surpassed all of my other beans in yield, in a hotter than normal year. (Disclaimer: "hotter than normal" here is an extended period in the 90's F.) In cooler climates (such as the coastal regions), runner beans can far out-perform regular beans as snaps. Their meaty texture can take some getting used to, but they are sweet, and freeze well. The best varieties are from the U.K., which has bred runner beans extensively; but those varieties can be hard to find in the U.S. Any runner bean, though, will make good snaps if picked very young... even Scarlet Runner. The discussion has so far revolved around beans used as snaps; but there are many other pole beans best used as either shellies (shelled out as ripe beans) or full beans (eaten pod & all when the beans inside have reached full size). IMO, those beans are one of the most rewarding vegetables a gardener can grow, because in most regions, the only way to experience them is to grow them yourself... but that is a topic probably best covered in a different thread. As already mentioned, there are numerous other bean discussions here on the Bean, Pea, and Legume Forum.

I have been growing Romano beans for several years. Their yields are very high and I harvest when young 6-7 inches long because I cook them whole. They are stringless too. This is the first year I have not been able to save seed (too wet and cold), so I may try something else. Fortex looks interesting. I also grow another long bean - the type you see in the Chinese shops. They are round and have a lovely flavour, but take a bit longer to mature. The Blue Lake series seem to be very popular but I have never tried them.

You will soon be deluged in suggestions! Mark, I'd start out by asking do you like your green beans with a lot of bean (seed) in them, or do you like lots of tender pod with little seed? Most people tend to go with the latter. My folks used to raise Kentucky Wonder Pole beans, which were best used with the seeds barely developing in them. Kentucky Wonder is a great bean, and very prolific. Many on this forum will recommend Fortex. Another name which I've heard, quite a bit is Blue Marbut. Jeminez gets rave reviews by some. I'm going to try it this year. Take a look at Sandhill Preservation Center for these two and some other good ones: http://www.heirlooms.org/catalog.html My favorites are those which can fill out quite a bit and stay tender. Most beans like this also have strings and and need to be strung when prepared. But they stay tender longer and they tend to have a more "beany" flavor. Below is a link to Sustainable Mountain Agriculture, which promotes such beans and sells seed. Twenty-four feet is a very respectable planting. May you have a wonderful productive gardening year! George Tahlequah, OK Here is a link that might be useful: Sustainable Mountain Agriculture

I saw a post recently about a similar topic. Instead of buying an envelope of 5-10 beans of different varieties for $1-3 each, as long as you like the beans in a mixed bag like the one you got, then for 1 pound of mixed beans for a cheap price, you can have many more beans to grow. And what you didn't grow, you can go ahead and eat it!