LIMA BEANS 149 



ground. All moisture should be withheld, and a dust mulch over 

 the surface should be preserved by running a sweep over the plan- 

 tation once or twice more. The vines may then be allowed to take 

 possession of the area. This obviates the necessity of using poles, 

 and the crop can be grown to maturity under these conditions 

 without irrigation, without cultivation, and without poles. 



Cultivation of Lima beans. The Lima bean is naturally a long- 

 season crop, and in its native country is practically a perennial 

 plant ; hence the necessity, in a region with a limited growing 

 season, of taking advantage of every factor in soil and climate that 

 will tend to shorten the period of growth and hasten maturity. It is 

 possible to lengthen the season by artificial means, when growing 

 on a limited scale, by planting the seed in berry boxes or on inverted 

 sods in a hotbed or cold frame two or three weeks in advance of 

 the regular planting season. The season in the field can be short- 

 ened by withholding nitrogenous fertilizers, which tend to induce 

 late growth ; by supplying fertilizers like muriate of potash and acid 

 phosphate, which have a tendency to hasten maturity ; and by se- 

 lecting what is known as a quick soil one which dries out and 

 warms up early in the spring, and which, because it is normally 

 inclined to be dry, has a tendency to shorten the life cycle of 

 the plants growing in it. 



Harvesting Lima beans. At harvest time a root cutter, as shown 

 in figures 54 and 55, is passed under the lines of the rows, sever- 

 ing the roots of the plants, which, after being dried and somewhat 

 cured, are thrown into convenient heaps for loading into wagons. 

 They are allowed to remain in these heaps until the approach of 

 the rainy season, when they are carried to the threshing floors, 

 where they are beaten out by the tramping of animals or by means 

 of a device somewhat similar to the ordinary land roller. Where 

 Lima beans are grown very extensively, power threshers of large 

 capacity are employed. The loss reported from the use of these 

 machines is greater than when the old method of tramping them 

 out is followed, but whether this is sufficient to justify the slower 

 process of shelling can only be determined from actual field tests. 



Dwarf Lima beans, because of their habits of growth, are planted 

 and cultivated practically like the field beans. They are slightly 

 hardier than pole Limas, and for this reason, toward the northern 



