306 How THE FARM PAYS. 



rarely ever used as a shell bean. To ensure a succession of bush 

 beans throughout the season they should be sown at intervals of ten 

 days from the first week in May (or time of corn planting) until the 

 first week in August. They are a fairly profitable crop, but not so 

 much so as some others, as their culture is so simple and easy. The 

 best varieties for cultivation are the Early Valentine and the Golden 

 Wax. 



BEAN (LIMA). 



This is the best known and the best of all the running or pole beans, 

 although there are quite a number of kinds in cultivation. They are 

 rather more tender than the bush beans, and a very common mistake 

 is to plant them too early, in which case they are almost certain to rot. 

 In the latitude of New York they should not be planted sooner than the 

 middle of May, and will come just as quick into bearing if planted 

 then, as ten days earlier, besides the chance of loss by the chilling of 

 the seed. They should be planted in hills from three to four feet apart 

 and five or six seeds in each hill. The seeds should be planted about two 

 inches deep, and are better placed edgewise, with the eye downwards. 

 In each hill should be placed a pole seven or eight feet high, for the 

 bean to climb on, as it is no use to grow it unless it has some such sup- 

 port. This variety is used in a green state, shelled just as peas are 

 used, although they are occasionally dried and used in winter, or 

 when good samples are dried they can be sold to the seed stores at 

 well paying prices. 



BEET. 



When grown for table use this root should be sown in drills about 

 one foot apart, if to be worked by hoe or by hand cultivator, or two 

 feet apart if to be worked by horse cultivator. We always prefer to 

 sow the seed by hand in drills about two or three inches deep, tread- 

 ing in the seed with the foot, as there is hardly any other seed so easily 

 dried up and its growing properties destroyed as this. When sown by 

 hand twenty pounds of seed to the acre is required; or, by seed drill, 

 half that quantity. When grown for table use in the vicinity of our 

 large cities, beets are usually a very profitable crop, generally yielding 

 a clear profit of about $300 per acre. Upon the first introduction of 

 Egyptian beet, a few years ago, the crop sold for $1,500 per acre in 

 the New York market, as it was ten days earlier than any other variety. 

 After sowing and treading in the seed, the row is covered up and the 



