APRIL. 287 



found that a vine of the Tom Thumb produced 

 as many pods as a vine of the tall variety stand- 

 ing between four and five feet high. The rows 

 of Tom Thumb can be planted one foot apart, 

 the others four feet, and require brush at that. 

 But to get a paying crop from the dwarfs they 

 must be planted early on very rich soil. I find 

 it pays well to drill in well-rotted manure with 

 the seed. McLean's Little Gems are not quite 

 so hardy, and should not be planted till after the 

 soil becomes a little warmer and drier. When 

 ground is scarce and valuable, as with me, I find 

 these dwarf varieties pay much the best, as I 

 can plant them between other crops, such as 

 raspberries, sweet corn, lima beans, cucumbers, 

 etc. The Tom Thumb, if sown very early, will 

 mature about the 2Oth of June in our region, 

 and as the pods all fill out at once the vines can 

 be pulled up as they are picked, and thus they 

 are out of the way of the crops they were grow- 



