208 



BEANS 



BEANS 



early enough to permit thorough fitting of the soil 

 for wheat. Late-maturing varieties are more fre- 

 quently followed by some spring-sown crop, as oats. 

 Seed-bed. — Early plowing is essential to best 

 results with beans. As the planting is not done 

 till late spring at earliest, there is a tendency, 

 .owing to pressure of other work or to slackness, to 

 delay plowing till near the time of planting, much 

 to the disadvantage of the crop. As in the case of 

 wheat and buckwheat, the land should be plowed 

 five or six weeks before the time of planting and 

 should receive frequent harrowings to bring it into 

 the best possible condition. By this treatment a 



Fig. 297. Types of beans. Left, YeUoweye; center, Black 

 Turtle-soup; right, Boston Small Pea. (Reduced.) 



larger quantity of moisture is held in the subsoil 

 and becomes available for the crop later in the 

 season. The weed seeds are also given a chance to 

 germinate and to be killed before planting, so the 

 after-tillage of the crop is less expensive. More fre- 

 quently than otherwise the crop suffers for want 

 of moisture at some period in its growth, and early 

 plowing and thorough fitting are the best means 

 of guarding against this contingency. Probably no 

 one thing results in so much loss to bean-growers 

 as late and hasty fitting of the land. 



When grown on poor land, beans respond well to 

 dressings of barnyard manure or of commercial fer- 

 tilizer, though it is not a general practice to manure 

 or fertilize the crop. In experiments conducted by 

 the Cornell Experiment Station, it is indicated that 

 applications of phosphoric acid are especially likely 

 to prove profitable. 



Seed. — The quantity of seed required per acre 

 varies with the variety. Of the small varieties 

 (Marrow Pea and Boston Small Pea), many growers 

 plant one-half bushel per acre, although some 

 secure better results with three pecks or even one 

 bushel. Five or six pecks of Kidney beans are 

 recommended, and intermediate amounts of other 

 sorts, according to size. 



Planting. — Beans are usually grown in drills. 

 The distance between rows varies from twenty- 

 four to thirty-two inches ; it is usually twenty- 

 eight inches. The ordinary grain drill is used 

 almost exclusively for planting, by stopping the 

 tubes that are not needed. Special bean planters 

 are sometimes used in planting large-seeded varie- 

 ties, as some of the grain drills will not handle 

 these successfully. 



The time of planting varies somewhat with the 

 locality, but more especially with the variety of 

 bean. The Kidney and Black Turtle-soup varieties 

 require more time for development than the smaller 

 beans and should be planted somewhat earlier. In 

 New York, the Kidneys are usually planted in the 

 last half of May, while the Pea and Medium varie- 

 ties should be planted June 5 to 20. The Marrows 

 and Yellow-eyes come intermediate. 



Very early planting of beans is not to be rec- 

 ommended. If placed in soil too cold or too wet 

 for quick germination the seeds rot quickly, and 

 even if a fair stand is secured the young plants do 

 not get an even start. The strongest and best 

 seeds start first under these unfavorable conditions 

 and a little later some of the weaker seeds grow, 

 resulting in a stand of plants of unequal size and 

 vigor. This uneven start results in uneven ripening 

 at harvest time, — one of the troubles of the bean- 

 grower. This trouble is not so likely to be met if 

 the planting be deferred till the soil becomes w-arm 

 and in a condition to favor rapid germination and 

 vigorous growth. 



Cultivation. — Beans come up quickly under 

 favorable conditions, and cultivation may begin 

 early. The young plants are tender and break 

 easily at first, hence care is required in working 

 among them. Some farmers use the weeder on the 

 crop after the plants have formed several leaves, 

 but this practice is of doubtful propriety, as any 

 mutilation of the plants increases the liability to 

 disease. Cultivators of variqus designs are used 

 in the bean-fields ; the ordinary one-horse hand-cul- 

 tivator has been used chiefly in the past; but wheel 

 tools cultivating two or more rows at a time 

 are now in much favor. Tillage should be frequent 

 enough to prevent weeds getting a foothold or 

 a crust forming at the surface of the soil. Culti- 

 vation should not be given while the leaves are 

 wet from dew or rain, as under these conditions 

 disease spores are readily transferred from dis- 

 eased to healthy plants. 



Varieties of field beans. 



There are grown in the states seven or eight 

 distinct varieties of commercial beans and some of 

 these have several sub-varieties. These varieties 

 are quite distinct from the vegetable or garden 

 sorts that are grown for the canning factories or 

 for sale in the green state. They may be named 

 as follows: the Pea varieties, including Marrow Pea 

 bean, Boston Small Pea bean ; Medium bean (with 

 sub-varieties of Day Leafless Medium, Blue-pod 

 Medium, Burlingame Medium and White Wonder) ; 

 White Marrow (with sub-variety Vineless Marrow); 

 Red Marrow (which is probably a sub-variety of 



