10 BEAN CULTURE 



appears that applications of phosphoric acid may 

 lead to a profitable increase of yield. The bean 

 plant, especially when young, seems to be particu- 

 larly susceptible to injury from the liberal use of 

 potash in dry seasons. The fertilizer should be 

 thoroughly mixed with the soil to guard against 

 such injury. In fact, whatever fertilizers are used, it 

 is well to bear in mind that a harmful effect by de- 

 laying or even entirely preventing the germination 

 of seed will almost invariably result, if the fertilizer 

 comes in contact with the seed.* 



Considerable work has been done in the line of 

 determining what fertilizers are best and under what 

 conditions each will succeed. The results of experi- 

 ments with beans by C. Von Swelhorst** indicate in 

 general that a good supply of bean food tends to 

 develop a strong, well developed root stem, with 

 roots growing to a greater extent than when plant 

 food is limited. For this .reason he believes that 

 heavy fertilized crops are better able to withstand 

 drouth than those having received but slight appli- 

 cations. His deductions are the more significant 

 when one recalls the fact that beans are very apt to 

 suffer at the end of the season from drouth. 



Dr. L. F. Kinney*** found that dissolved bone 

 black, sulphate of potash, muriate of potash, sul- 

 phate of ammonia and nitrate of soda, when tried 

 out on 12 different varieties of bush beans, resulted 

 in yields favorable to dissolved bone black. Sulphate 

 of potash came second as productive of the best 

 yields, and muriate of potash third. The nitrog- 

 enous fertilizers proved unprofitable. 



*U S dept of agri, div of botany, Bui 24. 



"Jour landw 50, 1902, pp 91-104. ***R I Rpt of 1890, pp 154-5. 



