210 



BEANS 



BEANS 



mechanical device which causes the beans, thinly 

 spread on a movable canvas apron, to pass slowly 

 in front of the picker, who has opportunity to see 

 each bean and time to pick out the gravel and 

 damaged beans. By means of a foot-lever the 

 operator controls the movement of the apron and 

 the rapidity of the flow of the beans, which are 

 led by means of spouts from the storage room 

 above. Some dealers arrange the work so as to 

 keep ten to twenty persons employed throughout 

 the year. 



By-products. 



CuU beans. — A by-product of the bean-houses 

 are the damaged beans removed from the crop. 

 These are mixed with more or less of gravel which 

 the machines could not separate from the beans. 

 These cull beans have a high feeding value, although 

 the admixture of gravel interferes somewhat with 

 their use. Sheep are fond of beans and will sort 

 them out, leaving the gravel. Swine eat the cooked 

 beans, and by stirring in water while cooking, the 

 gravel falls to the bottom of the vessel and leaves 

 the food practically free from it. Ground and 

 mixed with other grains, the beans may be fed to 

 cattle, and when the animals become accustomed to 

 them they are apparently relished, although at iirst 

 they are usually rejected. The presence of the 

 gravel is especially objectionable when it is desired 

 to grind the beans. Probably the best use of cull 

 beans is for sheep and swine food, and for this pur- 

 pose they have a higher value than farmers have 

 usually assigned to them. It is important, however, 

 that they be fed in connection with other more 

 carbonaceous foods, as corn, instead of being 

 made the exclusive diet, or the health of the ani- 

 mals may be impaired. Samples of cull beans from 

 the bean-houses of New York have been analyzed 

 by Cavanaugh and reported on as follows : 



Diseases. 



There are a number of diseases affecting the 

 bean plant, each of which assumes considerable 

 economic importance at times. The most destruc- 

 tive of these is the bean anthracnose (Colletotriehum 

 Lindemuthianum, Fig. 58), though bean-blight (Bac- 

 terium phaseoli) also often causes considerable 

 loss. In 1904 and 1905, these diseases, especially 



A garden bean with full crop. 



the former, were very abundant and destructive in 

 New York. The bean anthracnose occurs in almost 

 every case as the result of planting diseased seed. 

 If conditions are favorable it may develop rapidly, 

 resulting in the destruction of the plant while still 

 small ; or under other conditions its progress may 



Bean-straw is also a by-product of considerable 

 economic importance as forage. Sheep are fond of 

 the pods and thrive on them. When fed to dairy 

 cows they are productive of good results. Al- 

 though if used freely there is a tendency to pro- 

 duce looseness of the bowels, a danger that should 

 be guarded against. The digestible nutrients con- 

 tained by bean-straw, as computed by Cavanaugh, 

 are as follows : 



be so slow as to attract little attention till the 

 pods are well formed, when it may appear as "pod- 

 spot." The diseased seedlings may be recognized 

 by the brown or black sunken spots or pits on the 

 stems and cotyledons. The stem may become so 

 diseased and weakened at the base as to fall 

 over of its own weight. When the beans are 

 affected after the leaves are well developed, these 

 will show the disease chiefly on the under side 



