138 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



adapted to the production of this kind of beans is a deep, thor- 

 oughly pulverized clay-loam, free from excessive moisture. Indeed 

 the Lima bean v.ill not succeed on wet and cold soil, nor on those 

 that are verj'- porous and dry. He has been accustomed to culti- 

 vate his ground to the depth of twelve to eighteen inches, either 

 with the spade, or b}^ means of the subsoil plow ; and they had 

 frequently raised from one thousand to four thousand fold of 

 beans at one crop. He sticks his poles about four feet apart each 

 way, setting them firmly in holes made with a crowbar. The 

 poles should not be over seven feet high. 



In order to give the young beans an early start, he spreads a 

 liberal dressing of well rotted barnyard manure around each pole 

 where the beans are to grow. The fine manure is covered with 

 earth after it is spread around the pole. Then a small circular 

 channel is made around the base of each pole into which the beans 

 are stuck, with the eyes downward. This is to facilitate their 

 coming up well. If planted with the e^'es up, or on the sides, 

 unless the soil is exceedingly light and mellow, the beans will not 

 come up, whereas if the eye be down, the growing stems will push 

 the beans to the surface of the ground without any difficulty, even 

 in a heavy soil. And even when the}^ do come up, if planted on 

 the sides, they will appear above ground several days sooner, if 

 they are stuck in, one at a time, with the eje down. He plants 

 six or seven beans around ea.'h pole ; and thins them, after they 

 have come up, to three stalks in a hill. If the runners do not 

 cling readily to the poles, they should be put around them, and 

 tied with some elastic strings until they will sustain themselves. 

 The ground should be kept clean and mellow, and free from weeds 

 and grass. When the climbers have reached the top of the poles 

 they should be pinched off. If allowed to keep on growing a 

 long and heavy growth of vines will be the result, with but a 

 small crop of beans. The vines of beans always go around the 

 poles toward the rising sun, while hop vines climb in the opposite 

 direction. If vines be put around the poles the wrong way they 

 will refuse to grow, and if left free will unwind and climb in the 

 opposite direction. Let a vine be put around a pole in the oppo- 

 site direction from its natural way to climb, and fastened there, 

 and as the end grows longer, it will turn directly around and go 

 up the pole in the opposite direction. It is highly important to 

 aid the vines in clinging to the poles, as the crop will be much 

 lighter if the vines are allowed to run a short distance on the 



