Vegetables with Edible Seeds 229 



picked as soon as the beans in the pod are about half grown, 

 or before the pods begin to harden. 



They are taken to the packing house and allowed to 

 stand exposed to the air for an hour or so to lose their 

 brittleness. The packing is simple. The pile is worked 

 over more or less closely and all culls removed, at the 

 same time they are straightened more or less and placed in 

 special bean crates. The crates are pressed down just 

 enough to keep the product from shaking about. 



In warm climates the product often suffers severe loss 

 from anthracnose, which causes peculiar red sunken spots 

 on the pods. This disease often destroys entire shipments 

 in transit. It can be prevented by spraying the picked 

 pods while in the packing house with potassium sulfide 

 or with sulfur spray. The snaps must be thoroughly 

 dried before placing in the crate. 



Harvesting biish beans. 



If the crop is to ripen, it will be found more convenient 

 to plant in hills; but these should be proportionately 

 farther apart in the row. As soon as nearly all the pods 

 are ripe, the plants may be cut off with a scythe or 

 a grass-mower. The gathering is usually best accom- 

 plished by collecting the vines on forks and placing 

 them in small piles at convenient distances. When 

 thoroughly dry, they are stacked, and later threshed 

 either by machine or by hand. The hand-threshed beans 

 usually contain fewer broken ones, and hence sell for 

 a higher price. Often the pods are picked as they 

 ripen, but this process is too expensive for any but beans 

 saved for seed. 



