276 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



be no danger of frost, take these to a well-prepared 'soil, and place four of 

 them around each pole; these poles need not be more than five feet high 

 above the ground. At the time of placing out the beans, they will prob- 

 ably be from one to five inches high, therefore ready to grow vigorously. 

 The disturbance of the soil between the poles, which should be at least four 

 feet apart in each direction, may be performed with a horse hoe, and this 

 will be entirely sufficient to keep down weeds and to secure a proper tilth 

 of the soil. When the beans are five feet and a half high, or as high as 

 the poles, pinch off the terminal bud, and repeat this process should a new 

 shoot start from the final leaf stalk. In consequence of this shortening-in, 

 new shoots will be thrown out from the main stalk, and these will be well 

 filled with beans, and so early in the season as to perfect their ripening 

 before frost. As compared with the old system of permitting the vine to 

 run to any length unchecked, this has many advantages. The main stalk 

 becomes twice as large, the fruit-bearing shoots are all formed early, and 

 the amount of crop is doubled. On the old system more than half the bean 

 pods are developed too late to perfect themselves before frost. Lima beans 

 require heavy fertilization, and even the most highly nitrogenous manures 

 may be fearlessly applied in large quantities. Peruvian guano may be 

 used with great profit for this crop. The advantage of this crop for 

 growers far from a market, is in the ability to have a large value in a small 

 bulk, for Lima beans are worth at all times, at the seaports, from fifteen 

 to twenty-five dollars per barrel. The demand for both home consumption 

 and export is always large. 



Dr. Trimble. — I prefer letting the bean run to the top of the pole, and 

 then turning it down. I consider nipping ofi" the top only delays the crop, 



Mr. Robinson. — A gentleman living in the western part of this State 

 informed me that he raised the small white bean at the rate of eighty 

 bushels per acre. 



Mr. George H. Hite suggested hen manure in compost as a good substi- 

 tute for guano, which is now selling at a very high figure — from $110 to 

 $120 a ton. 



Prof. Mapes said that he believed Lima beans may be profitably grown 

 as a large farm crop, either for seed or for eating. They are now selling 

 in Washington market at seven dollars a bushel. 



Mr. Smith — The farmers of Lebanon, Conn., prefer the red bean, as the 

 most profitable to cultivate. They sell very high in this city for shipping. 

 They are easy to grow, yield well, and keep better than any other because 

 they have a tough skin; the shape of the bean is long; it is not a new sort. 

 We generally grow them among our corn. 



Dr. Trimble. — I consider the Red Bush Cranberry bean as the most 

 profitable of all the beans to cultivate. 



Curing Beans. 



Mr. Minot Pratt, Concord, Mass. — I perceive that in the report of the 

 Farmers' Club, Mr. Robinson recommends the curing of white beans by 

 stacking the vines around " stakes, like ordinary garden bean-poles," when 

 it is necessary that they should be pulled in a green state. Now, this 

 direction does not seem to be well adapted to the latitude of Concord, for I 



