156 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



much on the culture of beaus, for 

 though they are great favourites as a 

 summer vegetable — and who does not 

 like beans and bacon P — yet their cul- 

 ture is quite an easy matter, and on 

 almost any soil a fair crop may be had 

 with ordinary care. The earliest crops 

 require rich and dry soil, for, as they 

 stand during winter, or are sown 

 before winter is quite over, much 

 damp would destroy them. But for 

 those sown after the end of February, 

 a tenacious soil with a cool bottom is 

 best, and they like a pretty good 

 dressing of old manure. The best 

 crop of beans I ever had was grown 

 "on a bed made up of the clearings 

 from an old clay -hedge, the soil having 

 been taken out to form a drain, and 

 probably the lower stratum of it had 

 never had a sj^ade tb rough it before. 

 On a clayey loam that has been 

 trenched in winter, a crop may be had 

 of double the weight of one grown on 

 the old surface soil. 



Those who do not mind a little 

 extra trouble, and the risk of a little 

 seed, may make a first sowing in 

 November, and Mazagan's Longpods 

 or Johnson's Wonderful are the bestfor 

 the purpose. The first spring sowing 

 should be made about the second 

 week in January, and sowings may be 

 continued every three weeks till the 

 1st of July, but after that period, 

 though it is quite possible to obtain a 

 crop, yet it seldom pays for the ground 

 it occupies. Indeed, after May they 

 are to be regarded as precarious. The 

 main crop should be of Johnson's 

 Wonderful, or Common Longpod, 

 which are the most prolific sorts in 

 (uiltivatiou, and the first week in 

 February is about the best time to get 

 them in. If a few Mazagans and 

 Windsors are sown at the same time, 

 the first will come in ten weeks, the 

 Longpods in about twelve weeks, and 

 the Windsors in about fourteen weeks, 

 so as to keep the table supplied for a 

 considerable time. The Mazagans are 

 prolific, but the pods are small ; the 

 Windsors are by no means a profitable 

 sort, and in small gardens frequently 

 fail altogether, for they need plenty of 

 room and fresh air ; they are, how- 

 ever, much liked for their superior 

 flavour. There are many other sorts, 



such as Tokers, Fans, etc., but those 

 named afford an ample choice, and 

 are the best for their several purposes. 

 When it may happen that there is 

 no vacant ground for the ordinary 

 sowings, they may be raised on little 

 seed-beds, or, if early in the year, on 

 turf-sods, or a gentle hotbed, and 

 planted out, for they scarcely lose a 

 day through moving, if they are taken 

 up carefully when they have half a 

 dozen leaves. 



The drills for the seed should be 

 double, four inches wide, drawn with 

 the hoe, and not less than two and 

 a-half feet apart, but the Windsors, 

 being stronger growers, should be 

 three and a-half feet apart, to give 

 them a fair chance of podding well. 

 The seed should be buried two inches 

 deep. As soon as the crop is suffi- 

 ciently advanced for hoeing up, the 

 earth between the rows should be 

 loosened and drawn to their stems, 

 and this hoeing should be frequently 

 repeated, and the earth each time 

 drawn up to them, so as to form a 

 sloping bank on each side. This pro- 

 motes a strong growth, and preserves 

 them from being blown down by the 

 wind. If sown in drills north and 

 south, four inches below the surface, 

 and with a little old manure under 

 them, as directed for peas, they bear 

 very heavily, but still require hoeing 

 between, and a moderate earthing up. 

 As soon as they are fairly in bloom, 

 half way up the stem, the tops should 

 be pinched, and this should be done 

 boldly, for there is nothing gained 

 by allowing all, or nearly all, the 

 blooms to open. A week or so 

 after, many of the side-shoots will 

 want topping, and the crop should 

 be looked over occasionally, to see 

 that none escape this decapitation, 

 for side-shoots continue to rise and 

 bloom, and, unless topped, the pods will 

 be poor. The black fly. Aphis fabm, 

 is very efl'tctually kept in check by 

 this topping process, for it does not 

 care to prey on the lower part of the 

 stem ; but should a crop get much 

 infested, it is best to destroy it at 

 once, or to tear up the blackest plants 

 and burn them. Drenching with soap- 

 suds and water in which elder-leaves 

 have been boiled, is a speedy settler 



