50 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



enough the surface to germinate seed. This thorough working 

 for a month or six weeks will make a mellow and moderately 

 firm seed bed to the depth of four or five inches, will liberate a 

 large amount of plant food and destroy most of the weed seed. 



The time of planting will depend somewhat on the variety 

 grown. The Marrow pea, perhaps more largely grown than any 

 other, is planted anywhere from May 25th to June 20th, usually 

 about June 10th or 12th. The Marrow, Yellow Eye, Red Kidney 

 and others of the larger varieties, are planted a week or ten days 

 earlier. About three pecks of pea beans, and from four to five 

 pecks of the large varieties, per acre are planted in drills twenty- 

 eight inches apart. Most growers use common grain drills for 

 this purpose, stopping the hoes not needed. Care must be taken 

 not to get the seed too deep; if the ground is in good condition, 

 one inch is plenty deep. If they do not come up quickly they will 

 not make a full crop. If your soil'responds to fertilizers, an ap- 

 plication of from 100 to 250 pound of a mineral fertilizer will 

 increase the yield and help ripen the crop evenly and earlier — two 

 important points. 



A few days after planting, and before beans come up, go over 

 ground with weeder. This breaks all crust, destroys what weeds 

 may have sprouted and levels ground, so that crop can be culti- 

 vated sooner. Just as soon as they are large enough, the culti- 

 vator and weeder is started, cutting as close to the row as pos- 

 sible, the first time with the cultivator. The weeder is used in 

 connection with the cultivator as long as practicable, going over 

 the beans once a week or every ten days until ripe, or until vines 

 fill the row. After first time over, cultivation should not be over 

 an inch or inch and a half deep and ground kept as near level as 

 possible. With proper points for the cultivator this can be very 

 easily done. 



In raising a crop of beans it must be borne in mind that they 

 make their entire growth in about three months, and that in the 

 dryest and hottest part of the year, and in ordinary seasons, a 

 large part of the moisture which they need will have to be held 

 in the ground from the spring rain. Hence, the necessity of early 



