i338 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



A wet, cold soil, or a barren soil, is no more fit for raising beans 

 than for wheat ; and the product of an acre in beans will sup- 

 port life nearly twice as long as the product of an exactly similar 

 acre of wheat. The Lima is the best garden bean ; but the ill 

 success of many gardeners in raising them has brought it into 

 disrepute. There is no trouble, however, if rightly managed. 

 Dig the spot intended for Limas the last thing in the fall. Set 

 down your poles as soon as the ground will do to work in the 

 spring, three feet apart each way. Grease your beans, by turn- 

 ing on to them melted fat (not hot) of any kind, and plant six to 

 a hill, with the eye down. If all the beans sprout, pull up two, 

 leaving four plants at each pole. The greasing prevents their 

 rotting, which has been the great objection to them. The Dwarf 

 Bean is planted in drills twelve inches apart ; two inches deep 

 and six inches apart is about the right distance to drop the seed. 

 If the drills are directly underlaid with hen manure or night- 

 soil compost, the growth will be rapid and the yield large. 

 For string-beans, the Indian Chief is preferred. The Concord 

 and Rhode Island Butter bean are desirable for shelling. Beans 

 should be hoed often, but never when the leaves are wet. It is 

 best not to plant them until the ground is warm, as they are not 

 hardy like peas. A succession may be planted from May to 

 August, and the table constantly supplied with corn and beans. 

 "We shall speak of the culture of beans and peas as a field crop 

 in another place. 



Peas may be sown as soon as the ground can be worked in 

 the spring, even if it freezes up and is covered with snow after- 

 wards. If the ground is trenched two feet deep in the fall, it 

 will be several days earlier in the spring. Warm, light soils, 

 moderately enriched by stable manure or bone dust, are best 

 adapted to the pea ; but if the ground has been manured the 

 year before, no further manure is desirable. For the early 



