GARDEN BEANS 137 



It is to be regretted that there are no available statistics giving 

 the acreage, yield, and value of garden beans. The map shown in 

 figure 46 gives the geographical distribution of the snap-bean 

 industry. The range and extent of the cultivation of this crop are 

 coincident with the business of market gardening and truck grow- 

 ing. Every market gardener, whether he is catering to the de- 

 mands of a small town or to the requirements of a city market, 

 uses a part of his acreage for string or snap beans. It is his pur- 

 pose to plant the crop so as to secure a succession of pickings from 



FIG. 47. A field of snap beans in the South 



early in the season until the plants are destroyed by frost. With 

 the truck grower, however, the object is quite different. He de- 

 pends for his profit upon growing a large acreage of some popular 

 variety which will come to marketable maturity at a time when the 

 products of his locality have the ascendency in the market. He 

 does not expect to anticipate this particular period nor to reap a 

 benefit after the product of another section farther north and closer 

 to the market becomes a competitor. In the one case the crop is 

 grown for a continuous supply over a long period ; in the other, 

 the aim is to secure a large product of desirable quality for a 

 short time only. Figure 47 shows a typical field of beans as grown 



