Beans as a Cash Crop 



The New Hampshire Department of Agronomy has sent out a leaflet calling 

 attention to the possibility of adding field beans to the limited number of cash crops 

 of that state. The reasons given are: 



Beans work into the rotation as a cultivated crop. 



They are legumes, and therefore do not exhaust the soil of its nitrogen. 



They will always sell for cash. 



They can be harvested, stored, and threshed out to be sold in winter when there 

 is little profitable work to do on the farm. 



While beans will sometimes make a crop on pretty poor land, they will do better 

 on good land. Where an old field is foul with twitch grass, the sod should be subdued 

 and got rid of its weeds before planting it to beans. 



On soils that are rather infertile, an application of barnyard manure will help 

 make the crop. If commercial fertilizers are used, most or all of the nitrogen may be 

 left outt 



In a general way, beans will do well on soils that are not quite rich enough for a 

 good crop of corn. They thrive well on sandy loams, loams, and clay loams. The 

 straw is a better roughage than most hays. It is better than corn stover, but not quite 

 as good as clover hay. Those who throw away bean straw or burn it are overlooking 

 a good source of gains for live stock. 



SHORTAGE OF PEAS 



Wholesale houses report a scarcity of blue peas in the United Kingdom. The 

 price of peas is advancing, and there does not appear to be any relief in sight. Some 

 idea of the increase can be ascertained by comparing the quantities and values of 

 imports during the first nine months of 1914 and 1915, respectively. Imports during 

 the former period were 837,831 cwts., valued at £443,933, and during the latter period 

 719,920 cwts., valued at £536,933, an advance of $1.04 per cwt. 



British imports are chiefly from the following sources: 



Peas (not fresh) other than split peas 1913-14 1914-15 



Russia £ 56,589 £ 62,904 



Germany 149,721 63,818 



Netherlands 145,804 55,711 



Japan (including Formosa and Japanese leased territories 



in China) 114,347 100,390 



British India 342,144 76,432 



Australia 2,898 18,087 



New Zealand 114,656 92,911 



Canada's contribution was valued at £5,932 in 1914 and at £7,599 in 1915. 



ONIONS 



By S. C. JOHNSTON, Vegetable Specialist, Ontario Dept. of Agriculture 



The onion ranks high in commercial importance among the vegetables grown 

 in Ontario. Next to the potato it is the commonest vegetable in the home. Average 

 prices afford excellent returns for the production of the crop, and, in spite of the fact 

 that Ontario annually produces many thousands of bushels, the imports are very heavy. 

 For this reason an increased production in this crop is warranted. 



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