BEAN 465 
ground has become warm and dry. No vegetable seed will decay 
quicker than beans, and the delay caused by waiting for the soil to 
become warm and free from excessive moisture will be more than 
made up by the rapidity of growth when finally they are planted. 
Beans will grow on most any land, but the best results may be se- 
cured by having the soil well enriched and in good physical 
condition. 
From the 5th to the 10th of May in the latitude of central New York, 
it will be safe to plant beans for an early crop. The beans may be 
dropped 2 inches deep in shallow drills, the seeds to lie 3 inches apart. 
Cover to the surface of the soil, and if the ground be dry, firm it with 
the foot or the back of the hoe. For the bush varieties, allow 2 feet 
between the drill-rows, but for the dwarf Limas 24 feet is better. 
Pole Limas are usually planted in hills 2 to 3 feet apart in the rows. 
Dwarf Limas may be sown thinly in drills. 
A large number of the varieties of both the green-podded and the 
wax-podded beans are used almost exclusively as snap beans, to be 
eaten with the pod while tender. The various strains of the Black 
Wax are the most popular string beans. The pole or running beans 
are used either green or dried, and the Limas, both tall and dwarf, are 
well known for their superior flavor either as shelled or dry beans. 
The old-fashioned Cranberry or Horticultural Lima type (a pole form 
of Phaseolus vulgaris) is probably the best shell bean, but the trouble 
of poling makes it unpopular. Dwarf Limas are much more desirable 
for small gardens than the pole varieties, as they may be planted much . 
closer, the bother of procuring poles or twine is avoided, and the 
garden will have a more sightly appearance. Both the dwarf Limas 
and pole Limas require a longer season in which to mature than the 
bush beans, and only one planting is usually made. 
The ordinary bush beans may be planted at intervals of two weeks 
from the first planting until the 10th of August. Each planting may 
be made on ground previously occupied by some early-maturing crop. 
Thus, the first to third plantings may be on ground from which has 
been harvested a crop of spinach, early radish, or lettuce; after that, 
on ground where early peas have been grown; and the later sowings 
where beets or early potatoes have grown. String beans for canning 
are usually taken from the last crop. 
2H 
