BEAN. 17 



barn and stacked up loosely, to become more thoroughly 

 dry, and await threshing. In hauling, they are loaded 

 up on wagons like hay. 



Threshing and Cleaning. In the drier climate of 

 California, threshing is performed in the open field. 

 But it is rarely, if ever, when this may be done in the 

 variable climate of the Atlantic section, the practice 

 there being to do the threshing in the barn. 



The best bean thresher in present use is the Bidwell 

 (Batavia, N. Y. ); an ordinary threshing machine is too 

 hard on beans, causing too great a loss by splitting. 

 After threshing, it is not usual to clean at once, but the 

 beans are generally stored in sacks or in bins, for clean- 

 ing later on. Should the beans not be well enough 

 dried after threshing, they may be dried more thoroughly 

 by being spread on the floor an inch or two deep, and 

 raking them over from time to time. 



A fan-mill or a seed-cleaner is used for cleaning. 

 One cleaning usually suffices; though sometimes two or 

 three are necessary, depending on the amount of im- 

 purities to be removed. The beans then undergo pick- 

 ing, either by hand or on a bean-picking machine. 

 The latter apparatus is about the size of an ordinary 

 sewing machine. The beans pass through a hopper 

 and drop on an endless belt that carries them to the 

 girl or boy doing the picking; as the impure beans are 

 picked out, the perfect ones are conveyed along and fall 

 into a tub or bin. After being hand-picked, the stock 

 will be in marketable condition. 



To Save Finest Seed for Private Use. To have 

 the finest, plumpest, and best matured seed, leave on 

 the plants all pods which are the earliest to mature, and 

 which present the most perfect shape and size, and are true 

 to type; pick off all other pods as they show themselves. 

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