226 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



1. BUSH BEANS 



Bush beans are the kind used for shipping purposes, as 

 string-beans, snap-beans, or snaps. In some sections of 

 the South the growing of snap-beans is a lucrative class 

 of gardening. All beans are tender and sensitive to cold, 

 even when it is not severe enough to freeze. Some 

 peculiarly protected situations on the east coast of Florida 

 are so favorably located for growing this crop for early 

 spring markets that the lands bring an annual rental of 

 $20 to $100 an acre and are valued correspondingly high, 

 while only a score of miles distant equally good land not 

 protected from the frosts is not worth possessing. Only 

 those parts of the South that are free from frosts and long 

 cold spells can grow beans for midwinter market ; in other 

 parts, late fall and early spring crops pay well. 



Soil for bush beans. 



For the early winter crop a light sandy soil is most 

 valuable, while for a fall crop a heavier soil may be used to 

 advantage. The land should be prepared moderately 

 deep, and need not be in a high state of tilth. Any de- 

 caying vegetable matter that happens to be on the field 

 may be left there. 



Fertilizer. 



The proportion of fertilizer ingredients should be as 

 follows : ammonia, 3^ per cent ; available phosphoric acid, 

 7 per cent; potash, 7 per cent. On poor land, 1000 to 

 1500 pounds of the above formula should be used to the 

 acre. If the land is rich in vegetable matter, the ammonia 



