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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



the weight of a two-horse cartload of green 

 manure. An easy way of ascertaining will be 

 by taking an old bushel basket, weigh it, and 

 fill the basket, weigh again and empty into 

 the cart until it is filled with such a load as is 

 usually drawn out by the team. 



Dana, in his Muck Manual, page 138, states 

 that one cord of green cow dung, will weigh 

 9289 pounds ! It is not unusual to see an ox 

 cart filled with such material, to be hauled off 

 by a single pair of oxen, and perhaps over 

 ploughed ground, where the power to move it 

 ought to be twice as great as on a hard road. 

 We have often seen a common horse cart 

 filled with green manure from the barn cellar, 

 and taken to a ploughed field by a single 

 horse. When there, the feet of the hoise 

 would sink to the fetlocks, and the wheels of 

 the cart several inches into the soft soil! 

 Still, the poor animal was expected to draw 

 the load. On requiring a farm hand to find 

 the weight of his loads by the "basket pro- 

 cess," it appeared that he was hauling out 

 about 2200 pounds at each load. Such a load 

 would not be too much, perhaps, for a stout 

 horse, on a hard road, but over a newly 

 ploughed field, it was a cruel exaction. 



There are other reasons why the farm 

 should be supplied with one good road, at 

 least. Through moist soils, ruts are soon 

 deeply cut ; this not only increases the draft, 

 but the carts soon become coated with mud, 

 and sometimes that coating remains on them 

 during the entire summer — haying season and 

 all ! This injures the paint and wood work 

 of the vehicles, and, to say the least, is no 

 credit to the farmer. 



With good private roads, then, a farmer 

 will perform his operations at nmch less ex- 

 pense ; the labor of the teams will be much 

 easier ; a greater (quantity or weight of grain 

 and other articles may be more expeditiously 

 earned over them ; manure can be more easily 

 conveyed to the fields ; the harvests can be 

 carried on more rapidly, and wear and tear of 

 every description will be greatly reduced. 



HARVESTING BEANS. 

 Beans are sometimes injured by the want of 

 proper care after they are pulled. If they 

 lay too compactly, so that they heat a little, 

 they acquire a musty flavor which greatly in- 

 jures them. To prevent this they must be 



laid in such a position as to receive the sun 

 and a free circulation of air. 



Some persons set posts in the ground, in 

 the form of a square, put rails into the post 

 holes, crossing with other rails, and upon 

 these lay the beans. But even upon this net- 

 work they will sometimes mould, if they are 

 piled up to the depth of a foot. Other per- 

 sons hang them upon fences or lay them upon 

 stone walls. They will dry in either of these 

 positions, but are apt to be blown about, and 

 disturbed by cattle, or other causes. 



They will dry admirably if packed upon 

 birch poles. Cut the poles to about eight or 

 nine feet in length, leaving the side branches 

 projecting some ten or twelve inches. Set 

 the poles firmly in the ground, in holes made 

 with an iron bar, and ram the earth about 

 them so that they shall not be swayed by the 

 wind. 



If there is no branch on the pole near the 

 ground, nail on a piece of board a foot and a 

 half from the ground, then another piece 

 across it. Upon these lay the vines, having 

 the roots always on the inside. Fill the pole 

 nearly to the top in this way, then hang a 

 bunch of beans on top and tie them to the 

 pole. In this way they will stand firmly, and 

 become sufficiently dry to thrash out easily, 

 and at the same time be perfectly sweet. 



Another mode which was given by a corres- 

 pondent of the Rural Neto Yorker, several 

 years ago, was as follows : — Use two stakes 

 seven or eight feet long and about two inches 

 through. Set them in the ground about two 

 inches apart, put a withe on the stakes eighteen 

 inches from the ground ; take a small handful 

 of beans, and lay the roots between the 

 stakes, so far through that the tops will not 

 reach the ground ; then a bunch the other 

 side in the same way. After this, the roots 

 only should come between the stakes, and the 

 roots of each bunch should be laid at right 

 angles with those of the bunch preceding. 

 When within a foot of the top of the stakes, 

 put on another toithe, drawing the stakes 

 together to hug the roots closely, then fill up 

 with beans as before, to the top ; then take 

 two bunches of beans, tie the roots together 

 and lay astride the top and it is finished. 



This, upon the whole, may be the best way 

 of stacking beans. If pulled soon after most 

 of the leaves have turned yellow, they might 



