416 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



BUSH BEANS. 

 H. P. GLADDEN. 



Beans do best in a rather light, well drained soil. Although, in ordi- 

 nary soil, a fair crop may be grown without the use of manure, its applica- 

 tion, in a well-rotted form, can be made with profit. 



If the garden is laid out in long rows, which is the preferable way, as it 

 permits the use of the horse cultivator, the drills should be from two and 

 one half to three feet apart, but where the work is done by hand, the rows 

 may be as near as fifteen or eighteen inches. The beans should be sown 

 two or three inches apart in the drills, and, after covering two or three 

 inches deep, the soil should be firmly pressed over the seed. 



Beans are easily injured by cold or excessive moisture. It is usually 

 safe to plant the first crop at the time corn is planted. For a succession 

 sow every two or three weeks until the first of August. 



Care should be taken to give the plants shallow cultivation, as disturb- 

 ance of the roots, especially during the blossoming period, will result in a 

 decreased crop. 



There are many varieties of bean, differing in earliness, productiveness, 

 and in the size, color, and quality of pod and seed. Of the green-podded 

 varieties, a well selected strain of Bed Valentine will prove satisfactory. 

 For a family garden preference is given to the wax-podded sorts. Cylin- 

 der Black Wax is very productive, with long, round, and light yellow 

 pods. This variety planted in succession will give snap beans that are ten- 

 der and of best quality throughout the season. Mammoih Wax and 

 Butter Wax may also be mentioned in this class. As a shell bean. Dwarf 

 Horticultural or Goddard Bush are excellent. Among the recent intro- 

 ductions may be mentioned Speckled Wax, very promising as a snap bean 

 and later as a shell bean. 



POLE BEANS. 



This class of beans is very tender and should be planted two or three 

 weeks later than the bush beans. The rows should be from four to five 

 feet apart, with four feet between the hills. The poles, which should be 

 about eight feet long, can best be set in place before the beans are planted, 

 as disturbing the young plants injures their growth. It is well to make 

 the hill quite rich, by working into the soil a shovelfull of well composted 

 manure. 



Golden Cluster is an excellent pole snap bean. The plants are strong 

 growing and very productive, and the pods are large, tender, and of the 

 best quality. Golden Champion is also a good variety. 



The Pole Limas are late in maturing and are usually killed by frost 

 before much of the crop has been gathered. 



A variety worthy of special mention is the Horticultural Lima. It is 

 productive and ripens the crop before frost comes. It is unexcelled as a 

 green shell bean and is a good cooking bean when mature. 



Warren, Gregory. A recent introduction. Plants of strong, vigorous 

 growth; pods three to four inches long, usually straight; flesh thick, 

 tender, and of best quality. The plants are productive and the pods 

 mature successively for a long season. An excellent home variety. 



