82 BEAN CULTURE 



Men follow with pitchforks to fork the plants from 

 the earth and throw two or three rows, as left by 

 the puller into windrows or small piles, according 

 to the fancy of the farmer, in which conditions they 

 are allowed to dry out well. This is a much easier, 

 simpler and more rapid way of gathering the crop, 

 besides it removes one of the most disagreeable and 

 tedious operations of the farm. Well do I remember 

 those early days, on my father's farm in Michigan, 

 when I used to creep along on my knees in the bean 



FIG. 26 A BEAN HARVESTER. 



field in a vain attempt to relieve the jumping tooth- 

 ache in my back, an ache that always attends a steady 

 day's work pulling beans by hand, no matter 

 whether the laborer be old or young. 



In small fields, hand pulling may be advisable, 

 even now, but a good machine such as pictured in 

 Fig. 26 also Fig. 3, is indispensable to a man grow- 

 ing beans for commercial purposes. It consists of 

 the frame, mounted on two wheels which resemble 

 those on a horse cultivator; in fact, there is in use 

 on many farms a combination cultivator and bean 

 puller. When it is desired to change the cultivator 



