86 



BEAN CULTURE 



The drying process is found a source of much 

 trouble in case of heavy vines pulled before fully 

 ripe or if the weather is cloudy and rainy. The 

 white varieties of beans color very easily and as this 

 means a second or third grade product, the vines 

 should be turned frequently in case they are caught 

 out in inclement weather. Bean growers all know 

 that it is disastrous to leave vines in rows as left by 

 the puller, and not shaken free of the earth, through 

 a rain. If the weather is fair all will be well and 

 vines whether thrown in piles or rows will soon be 

 ready for hauling. In case of the modest grower 

 who has but a small garden patch, the beans are 

 often put up in stacks about as high as one's head. 

 A false foundation 3 to 5 feet in diameter, of short 

 sticks of wood or other material, is made, a pole set 

 in the center and the beans piled around this, with 

 roots pointing toward the pole. Thus handled the 

 beans will stand ordinary weather for weeks with 

 little ill effects. Beans are rarely broadcasted, but 

 if they are, about the only way to harvest them is 

 to mow and handle as the pea crop would be. Pro- 

 fessor Stone suggests that an ingenious man could 

 adapt a shoe or knife to run ahead of the regular 

 bean puller, and do the work satisfactorily. Few 

 farmers, however, will have broadcasted beans as it 

 is not considered advisable to sow the crop in this 

 manner. 



Hauling the crop. — The methods of hauling are 

 simple and vary but little in different sections. The 

 orthodox way is for two men, one on either side of 

 the wagon suitably provided with an ordinary hay 

 rack, to pitch on the beans and shape the load from 

 the ground. The wagon is driven between the rows 



