is6o The Cornell Reading-Courses 



BEANS 



The bean, one of the oldest and most useful of the ves^etables grown for 

 human food, has been a well-known crop in New York State from very- 

 early times. 



Site. — Farmers are likely to plant beans on sites unsuited to their best 

 growth. For example, in some sections, beans are placed on thin hilltops 

 and dry knolls ; this is a mistake, because beans require good soil for their 

 best development. For early maturing varieties, a southern exposure is 

 preferable, though if a poor northern exposure or a hilltop is the only site 

 available, certain soil improvements may be made, by the addition of 

 manure or fertilizer and by the proper rotation of crops, which wnll coun- 

 teract the influences of a poor site. 



Soil and its preparations . — Beans will grow, however, on a variety of 

 soils, though profitable bean growing requires good, fertile soils well 

 adapted to the crop. Leguminous plants seem to be partial to limestone 

 soils, and beans are no exception to this rule. Soils possessing a great 

 abundance of organic matter are undesirable, as they produce a rank 

 growth of vine and a corresponding decrease in the crop yield. Gravelly 

 loams, containing considerable amounts of fine silt and some humus, 

 with an application of fertilizer, will grow profitable crops of beans. 

 Moderately heavy clay loams may also be favorable for their gro\vth, if 

 well drained and supplied with humus. Very hea\'y clay and very light 

 sandy soils are less suitable. A medium loam is probably the best. Land 

 that will produce good com or good wheat will produce beans, though beans 

 will not thrive on as heavy a soil as wheat will, nor on as light a soil as 

 com. Early plowing is essential to best results with beans. As the seed 

 is not to be planted until late spring, the average farmer delays plowing 

 until the latter part of May, much to the disadvantage of the crop. The 

 soil should be plowed five or six weeks before the time of planting and 

 should receive frequent harrowings to bring it into the best possible con- 

 dition. The plowing should be as deep as possible, and the harrowing 

 should be very thorough, because this treatment retains a larger amount 

 of moisture in the subsoil to become available for the use of the plants 

 later in the season. More frequently than otherwise, the crop suffers for 

 moisture at some time during the season, and the early plowing and the 

 thorough tilling are the best means of guarding against this. 



Rotation. — Beans seem to fit naturally into ordinar}^ farm crop rota- 

 tions. They follow com or potatoes to advantage. In some cases beans 

 have been successful on freshly turned sod land. In rotation, the bean 

 crop exhausts the soil less than most others, and it is noticeable that crops 

 following beans are benefited, due no doubt to the nitrogen-gathering 

 bacteria of the root nodules of the beans, in common with other legumes. 



