14 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



in a greater variety of ways than tlie bean. We not 

 only have the two distinct sorts of "winter" and 

 "spring" beans, but they are sometimes cultivated as a 

 fallow or cleansing crop ; sometimes for the sake of the 

 produce only. On heavy lands they occupy a regular 

 place in the rotation, next in importance to the wheat. 

 On light land they ai'e freijuently only a catch crop in 

 lieu of roots; and they may be gi'own upon trenched or 

 newly-deepene'l land, where wheat would fail. Nograin 

 is put in by f.o many methods — dibbled on the M'hole 

 furrow, dibbled in worked soil, dropped from a barrow- 

 drill and ploughed in, drilled or dibbled on lands or 

 stetches, on the flat or on the top of " ridges," or 

 " drills" like those for turnips ; ploughed and ma- 

 nured for, before winter ; and a seed-bed scarified, or 

 merely harrowed for, in spring : or else all deferred till 

 the time for sowing. In harvesting, also, are used 

 different tools; and finally, for thrashing, is needed a 

 differently-constructed machine from those used for any 

 other crop. 



There is much testimony in favour of the winter 

 bean, which branches more than other sorts, and in 

 proper seasons yields a large produce, ripening very 

 early, it allows of a crop of late-sown turnips or rape 

 aflerwards, or at any rate gives abundant time for 

 cleaning for wheat. But in districts where harvest is 

 late, there is often too much autumn-cleaning to do, to 

 permit of ploughing for beans until the winter is far 

 advanced ; hence, also, the difficulty of carrying out 

 what is certainly the most rational system of prepara- 

 tion for spring beans — autumn-ploiighing-in the ma- 

 nure, and simply grul)bing or harrowing to a tilth at 

 the frequently wet sowing-time. Winter-beans should 

 be sown on land that is in a clean state, as the early 

 autumn-ploughing assists the spread of conch more 

 than the late ploughing given for spring beans. So 

 that if the object be to gi'ow a cleansing crop, choose 

 spring sowing; and, indeed, the success of winter beans 

 is not such as to warrant our hindei'ing a wheat-seeding 

 for the sake of getting them in. 



Beans usually follow a White-straw crop ; therefore, 

 having forked-out beds of couch, &c., from the stubble, 

 cart on manure during the winter, and spread and 

 plough it in. The soil absorbs the products of the de- 

 composing manure, is rendered more porous and 

 friable as well as rich, and requires a mere stirring 

 with the cultivator, or perhai)s only heavy harrowing, 

 at seed-time. It is a common thing in the thoroughly 

 " bean" districts to plough twice in the spring ; but so 

 much trampling by horses, in vain endeavours to pul- 

 verize the stiff solid furrow-slices always turned up 

 after the rains, is condemned by common sense as 

 likely to render the land unsuitable for the growth of 

 the plants, and, by hardening when the dry weather 

 comes, to impede the hoeing. Besides, if the beans are 

 to be a cleansing crop, and horse or only hand-hoeing 

 be freely used, we need not prepare more than a suf- 

 ficient tilth for the young plants ; and when they have 

 come above ground, and during almost the entire 



period of their growth, we can pulverize the soil and 

 feed them byhoeinsr, while we at the same time destroy 

 the weeds. Drilling across the furrows, and harrowing 

 afterwards to cover the seed, is practised with great 

 facility and advanfase ; the coulters cutting the slices 

 partly into pieces, and keeping themselves clean. Of 

 course, first-class drill-men, or what is better, a steer- 

 ago drill, are needed to preserve the distances of the 

 rows with accuracy. 



The most common, expeditious, and easy method of 

 putting-in beans is certainly with the drill ; which 

 plan may be considered as applicable to all soils and 

 seasons. Why has so much pains been taken to dibble 

 this crop ; and why have so many ways of sowing been 

 devised, that are never thought of in connexion with 

 any other grain ? Ploughs have been made with a 

 little drill attached to the beam, to drop the beans in 

 the furrow ; barrow-drills, run along by hand ; dibbles 

 and dibbling machines employed ; and beans have also 

 been sown broadcast and ploughed in. 



When the ground is pretty clean, and horse-hoeing 

 is not required, the rows may be 12 or 15 inches apart ; 

 but a very common cause of deficiency of produce is 

 drilling too closely : the beans will flower from top to 

 bottom, if we only give them space for the admittance 

 of light and air — and it is flowers and pods, not straw, 

 that we want. We have frequently grown crops of 

 beans having stalks six to eight feet long, and with a 

 small yield of corn ; and we believe it is as much the 

 truth of beans as of other grain crops — if you practise 

 thin- seeding take care that you have plenty of seed hi 

 each row, but let the s-iving of seed be in having the 

 rows widely apart. You thus secure regularity and 

 sufficiency of plants, while great space is provided for 

 their full development. 



But one of the most valuable uses of the bean crop 

 is for enabling land to be cleaned or foulness kept in 

 check by horse-hoeing, while at the same time a profit- 

 able yield of grain is obtained. In single rows two feet 

 aparf, or in double rows one or less than one foot apart 

 with two-feet intervals between, beans are horse-hoed or 

 skeleton-ploughed, and, when in full flower, moulded- 

 up by the double-winged plough as potatoes are, to 

 prevent lodging and loss of corn. 



The subject of wide intervals between the rows of all 

 sorts of cropping is so extensive that we shall devote a 

 paper to some circumstances bearing upon it. Jlean- 

 while, we record it as our opinion that the drilling of 

 beans at very broad distances, and pursuing a system of 

 tillage between, is not nearly so generally adopted as it 

 might be with very great success. We have seen 

 winter beans in single rows Jive feet apart yielding 

 fifty imperial bushels per acre ; the manuring, of 

 course, being very high, the tillage exceedingly deep, 

 and tlie hoeing followed up with frequency. And yet 

 there are persons who are sceptical as to the possibility 

 of so few rows being able to contain pods enough for 

 such a magnificent vicld. 



