Vegetable Growing 79 



Hoeing Beans. 



Should beans be hoed while the dew is on the vine? 



Beans had better be hoed with the dew on them than not hoed 

 at all. The only objection to hoeing with the dew on is that the 

 hoer will get his feet wet, the vines will become untidy from adher- 

 ing dust, with a possible chance of the leaves becoming less effect- 

 ive and the pollination of the blossom rendered less liable to occur. 



Beans as Nitrogen Gatherers. 



/ groiv string beans in my rotation to restore nitrogen, but I see it 

 stated that not all beans are valuable for this purpose. Arc the common 

 bush varieties nitrogen gatherers? 



Probably they are all doing it in various degrees. Pull up or 

 dig up a few plants when growing actively, not too early nor too 

 late in the season, and look for nodules on the roots. Number and 

 size considered together will measure their activity in this line in 

 your soil. 



Bean Growing. 



/ want to plant beans of different varieties. The land is rich, black 

 loam with a little sand. When is the best time to plant? If planted 

 early, what shall we do to keep the weevils out of them? 



It is desirable to plant beans as early as you can without en- 

 countering danger of frost killing. No particular date can be men- 

 tioned for planting because the dates will vary in different locations 

 according to the beginning of the frost-free period. The best way 

 to escape weevil is to sell most of the beans as soon as harvested, 

 treating those which you retain for seed, or for your own use, with 

 bisulphide of carbon vapor or by gently heating to a temperature 

 not above 130 degrees, which, of course, must be done carefully with 

 an accurate thermometer so as not to injure germinating power. 

 Unless you know that beans do well in your locality, it would be 

 wise to plant a small area at first, because beans are somewhat par- 

 ticular in their choice of location in California, and one should have 

 practical demonstration of bearing before risking much upon the crop. 



The Yard-Long Bean. 



/ wish to ask about the very long bean which I think was intro- 

 duced from China into California. I remember seeing one vine zvhcn 

 I was living in California tvhich I think must have been 20 or 30 feet 

 long and had hundreds of pods and each of these pods zvere from 2 to 

 S feet long. Are these beans generally considered eatable? Would they 

 be at all suitable to get as a field bean which the hogs eat? 



You probably refer to the "yard-long" pole bean. It is a world 

 variety and may have come to California from China as you suggest, 

 but it has also been well known for generations in Europe and was 

 brought thence to the Eastern States at some early date. It is gen- 



