160 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



Castor Bean. — There are two classes of castor beans, one a perennial, 

 bushy plant with large seeds; the other a small seeded variety which yields 

 oil of superior quality. The plant grows within a wide range of climate, 

 from the tropics to the north temperate zone. In Florida it is a perennial 

 plant growing from fifteen to thirty feet high. Further north, it becomes 

 an annual, matures seed in a short season and grows only four or five feet 

 high. 



The castor bean thrives in sandy soils and its culture is simple. The 

 seeds germinate with difficulty and it is advised to place them in hot water 

 twenty-four hours before planting. 



It is customary to plant them in hills two inches deep, eight to ten 

 beans to a hill. They are afterwards thinned to one or two plants per hill. 

 The rows should be five or six feet apart and the plants from two to three 

 feet apart in the North, and from five to six feet apart in the South, where 



the plant grows more 



Crimson Clover, a Good Winter Cover Crop Where 

 Winters are Mild. 



Well suited to the lighter soils in the Coastal Plain Region 

 south of Philadelphia. 



luxuriantly. They 

 require about the same 

 tillage as corn. 



Planting should be 

 done as early in the 

 spring as possible, but 

 must escape injury 

 from frost. 



As soon as the pods 

 begin to open the fruit 

 branches should be re- 

 moved. This process 

 must be repeated at 

 least once a week as 

 soon as seeds ripen. The branches are spread out to dry on the floor of a 

 suitable building. 



In the United States most of the castor beans are produced in Kansas, 

 Oklahoma, California, Oregon and Wisconsin. 



The chief use of the beans is for the manufacture of castor oil. This 

 oil is one of the best lubricants for machinery and is used in the manufac- 

 ture of many articles. 



Vetch. — Common vetch and hairy vetch are the two most important 

 varieties of vetches. Common vetch seed is produced in large quantities 

 in the United States only in parts of Oregon. Hairy vetch has a wider 

 range of growth, but is grown mostly for forage, most of the seed being 

 imported from Russia. Both of these varieties seed freely wherever grown 

 and the prevailing high price of the seed ($5 to $8 per bushel) should induce 

 farmers to grow more of it for seed purposes. Yields ranging from twenty 

 to twenty-five bushels per acre have been reported for common vetch, the 

 average estimated yield being ten bushels. Hairy vetch is somewhat less 



