140 GARDEN FARMING 



production of beans, as a rule such fertilizers should be relatively 

 richer in phosphoric acid and potash than in nitrogen. The produc- 

 tion of snap or string beans, however, demands a larger percentage 

 of immediately available nitrogen than does the production of field 

 beans for the dry grain, since in the former case the crop occupies 

 the land a shorter time and therefore has less opportunity to provide 

 itself with a supply of nitrogen from the atmosphere. If commer- 

 cial fertilizer is used, it may be distributed broadcast over the area 

 with a grain drill or a fertilizer distributer, or it may be scattered 

 along the row at the time the seeds are sown by means of one of 

 the. many types of seed drill having a fertilizer attachment. 



Planting garden beans. Garden beans, like field beans, may be 

 planted either in hills or in drills. It is customary, however, to 

 plant them in drills so that they shall fall 2 or 4 inches apart and in 

 rows far enough apart to admit of cultivation with either one-horse 

 or two-horse implements. Because of their peculiar habit of germi- 

 nation the elongation of the part between the root and the seed 

 leaves, called the hypocotyl the seed leaves, or cotyledons, are 

 lifted out of the soil. A large expenditure of energy on the part 

 of the plant is necessary to accomplish this, and the more com- 

 pacted the soil and the deeper the seed is planted the more 

 time and energy are required to do this. It is evident, therefore, 

 that the shallower the beans can be planted without retarding satis- 

 factory germination, the better. Upon thoroughly fine and com- 

 pacted soils the seeds are planted from i| to 2 inches deep. 

 Shallower planting than this does not, as a rule, give as satisfactory 

 germination. 



While garden beans are planted in extensive areas, as shown in 

 figure 46, they are, nevertheless, frequently used as a catch crop 

 between other plants, such as squashes and cucumbers. The bean 

 matures its crop and is out of the way before the entire area is de- 

 manded by the companion crop. In addition to the value of the 

 crop secured from the beans, it is claimed that the plants act bene- 

 ficially as a windbreak to shelter the tender vines of the cucumber 

 during their early life. Beans also serve to increase the income 

 from areas upon which the most intensive systems of truck farm- 

 ing are conducted. Upon such areas, where both a fall and a spring 

 crop of lettuce are grown, beans are sown between the lettuce plants 



