MINOR CROPS. 325 



the young seedlings are wilted; otherwise, being too brittle, a 

 large number will be broken off. Cultivation should be com- 

 menced soon afterwards, and should continue until the vines 

 meet and thus make inter-tillage impossible. Harvesting 

 should start when the majority of pods have turned colour, and 

 before the oldest have started to shatter. Where there is any 

 danger of shattering, the crop is best cut at a greener stage and 

 the handling done during the early morning hours when the 

 crop is moist from the dew. The crop is generally pulled or 

 cut by hand, but where large acreages are grown, they are most 

 economically harvested with an implement called a bean cutter, 

 the essential feature of which is a pair of sharp knives, about 

 three and a half feet in length, mounted on a sled, from which 

 they should stand inward and slope backward at an angle of 

 66 degrees. The sled straddles two rows and deposits the 

 plants in a windrow, where they are left until dry enough to be 

 put up in cocks before being threshed. In South Africa thresh- 

 ing is mostly done with a flail or by trampling with animals. 

 Grain threshers have thus far proved unsatisfactory in that too 

 many of the beans get cracked. In America special bean 

 threshers are used and are reported to give every satisfaction. 



Being a soil renovating crop, it should, where desirable, 

 be included in rotations. It is undoubtedly one of the best 

 cash crops on dry lands as well as under irrigation. On the 

 former it can precede maize, and on the latter wheat in the 

 rotation. 



Production and Yield. — The acreage under this crop in 

 the Union, according to the 1918 agricultural census, was 30,474 

 morgen, which gave a total production of 256,472 muids of 200 

 lbs. each. Thus the average acre yield is about three to four 

 bags, though much higher yields are often obtained. 



Uses. — Beans are used in large quantities dried, and in 

 the pod as " green beans," They are also to a limited extent 

 used as stock feed when ground, and the straw makes a valu- 

 able hay for all classes of livestock. On account of their high 

 protein content, all parts of the plant constitute an important 

 portion of rations which may include them. 



Varieties in South Africa. — Beans belonging to the 

 sugar group are those in greatest demand and fetch the highest 

 prices. The best varieties of these are Painted Lady and Port 

 Natal. White varieties such as Large White Kidney, Large 

 and Small Haricot are also popular and sell well. Of the col- 



