MACHINE THRESHING 163 



beans with those that are ripe. If the regular grain separator is used the 

 threshing should be done while the vines are in the sweat, for at that time the 

 seed is tough and not easily cracked. 



The beans are gathered into header wagons, with beds ten feet 

 wide and sixteen feet long. One side of the bed is considerably 

 higher than the other, and a large and strong net is spread over the 

 entire bed, fastened on one side, and into which the beans are forked. 

 This is driven to the threshing machine, where a derrick lifts up the 

 lower side of the net and tumbles the contents onto a large platform, 

 after which the straw and beans are fed into the machine with pitch- 

 forks. It requires eight header wagons to keep the machine busy. 

 Fifteen hundred sacks, averaging seventy pounds each, or one hun- 

 dred and five thousand pounds, are considered a good day's work. 



The machine-threshed beans have also to be recleaned before 

 they are marketed. Yet there is one great advantage with the steam 

 thresher. The rainy season is approaching, and a shower is liable 

 to fall in October while the threshing process is in full blast, so that 

 any beans that are caught on the floors are ruined if they do not 

 manage to cover them in some way, while by the machine process 

 all beans are sacked as they are threshed. 



Bean Cleaning. It is imperative now that beans should be put 

 into good marketable condition. When prices were high the quality 

 and condition of the beans did not materially interfere with the 

 sales, but in times of plenty, the best is hardly good enough and the 

 most scrupulous attention is given as to the quality. To insure the 

 most ready sale at best prices, every grower should have the reputa- 

 tion of putting his beans in the sack for sale in thoroughly sound and 

 clean condition, even by hand-picking if necessary. A dirty lot of 

 beans from any locality injures not the grower alone but casts 

 suspicion on all the product of that place. In preventing this, asso- 

 ciated effort of growers has accomplished much. 



Rotation of Crops. It has been the experience of bean growers 

 hitherto that many crops of beans can be grown successfully on the 

 same soil without great difference in the yield that is, the land does 

 not clearly show wear. On the other hand, however, a bean crop 

 improves barley, potatoes or other succeeding crop. This might be 

 expected from what is now known of the power of the legumes to 

 fix atmospheric nitrogen by means of their roots. Our best bean 

 soils are so rich naturally that they are able to endure a long 



