296 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



for timber, and the bean poles will pay all the expense. In the 

 chapter on "Timber Growing" directions are given for growing 

 them. The beans should be planted in hills four feet apart each 

 way, and the poles set at least a foot deep so that they will bear 

 the weight of the vines. All the lima beans are tender, and 

 should not be planted till the land is warm, say from May 15th 

 to June 15th. For family use some weeks may be gained by 

 planting a few hills in three-inch pots under glass, and trans- 

 planting to the open ground when the danger of frost is over. 

 There is one other variety of bean which I find profitable to pole, 

 the "Dutch Case-knife." It is early and very prolific, and is 

 the best dry bean for winter use that I am acquainted with. 

 It succeeds, also, very well on corn. 



Beets. The cultivation of field beets is treated in another 

 chapter. For the garden, I prefer the turnip-rooted varieties, 

 and the Early Egyptian and Improved Blood Turnips are the 

 best. All the beets are hardy, and may be sown as early as 

 the land can be worked, as the freezing of the ground after 

 they are up will not kill them. Early sowing will give the lar- 

 gest yield, but a late sowing about July 1st will give a bet- 

 ter and tenderer table beet for winter use. The largest yield 

 of beets I have ever seen was from the Early Bassano. This is 

 a turnip beet, light red on the outside, and marbled, with red 

 within, and is recommended for fall feeding of cows, as on rich 

 land, with good culture, they will grow enormously large. They 

 are also excellent for the table when young, but not so at- 

 tractive as the red fleshed varieties. For garden culture plant 

 beets in rows fifteen inches apart, and thin to six or eight inches 

 in the row. The thinnings may be used for greens the same 

 as spinach. 



Cabbage. The varieties of cabbage are numerous. Many 

 of our seedsmen describe in their catalogues from forty to fifty, 

 but the farmer or gardener will ordinarily grow less than a half 

 dozen. The Early Jersey Wakefield is the best and earliest 

 variety, and for second early there is, perhaps, none better than 

 the Winningstadt. Other good summer and early autumn vari- 

 eties are Henderson's Summer, Fotler's Brunswick, and Stone- 



