I pay no attention to how the seeds are oriented. They seem to sprout just fine no matter which way they land.

Jim

Never heard of such nonsense. Just think of the hundreds of thousands of acres of beans planted every year and all those farmers making sure they are placed just so.
For that matter there isn't a seed I've planted over the last forty years that ever cared which way it landed as long as gravity is down and light is up.

I recently read in a gardening book to plant the "belly button" or "eye" down. So, I did a tiny experiment when I planted some of my beans this year. Planting the eye pointing up seemed to delay emergence by a day or so but germination was fine overall. However, mcleod's point is well taken. Commercial farmers can't plant zillions of beans by hand. They will do just fine whichever direction they're pointed. Impatient gardeners like me with small gardens might take the time though to plant eye down. :)