CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 235 



wheat. In trucking and market gardening-, the garden 

 varieties may be worked into the system of cropping at 

 almost any point, provided there is a sufficient time for 

 the beans to attain marketable size. As this crop must 

 not be started until the ground is thoroughly warm, there 

 is often opportunity to grow early spring crops, such as 

 lettuce and radishes, before planting beans. In the truck- 

 ing sections of the South, snap beans are often planted 

 after kale or spinach, and the beans are removed in 

 ample time for starting fall crops. 



Early spring plowing is especially important when 

 sod land is to be used. The soil should then be har- 

 rowed several times before planting to destroy weeds 

 and to conserve moisture. 



305. Fertilizing. It is generally conceded that the 

 mineral elements are of greatest importance in the grow- 

 ing of beans. This is unquestionably true with the field 

 class and late-maturing varieties which have the entire 

 season to provide themselves with nitrogen from the 

 atmosphere. In the districts where dry beans are grown 

 extensively, it is seldom that more than 2 per cent of 

 nitrogen is used in the fertilizer. Many farmers omit 

 this element altogether. Some producers of field beans 

 apply six to eight tons of stable manure an acre and the 

 mineral elements are used quite freely. 



In trucking and market gardening, fertilizers are gen- 

 erally employed that contain high percentages of the 

 three elements. Voorhees ("Fertilizers," p. 269) suggests 

 500 to 600 pounds an acre of a 4-8-10 mixture, supple- 

 menting if necessary with 20 to 30 pounds of phosphoric 

 acid and 60 to 75 pounds of potash. While potash is 

 regarded essential, experiments in Mississippi show that 

 the addition of kainit lowered rather than increased the 

 yield of snap beans. The same station recommends 125 

 pounds of cottonseed meal (or its equivalent), 62.5 

 pounds of nitrate of soda and 250 pounds of acid phos- 



