B E A 



B E A 



•f beans tlianof any ether pulfc, on account of tlicir gentle 

 loofe:iiiig the belly. Accordingly he is laid to have per- 

 n.itted the ufe of them, becaut'c he belitvtd thtm to be 

 wholcfome, but his difciples have forb'ddcn them, becaufe 

 they thought them, as Hippocrates alio did, productive of 

 flatulency, and otherwife prejudicial to ht-alth. Thus, a pro- 

 hibition, which was at firll a civil regulation, or falutary 

 advice, allumed the authority of a facrcd law. 

 Bean, B;g. See Menyanthes. 

 BEAN-M^tT. See Zygophvllum. 



Bean-<:9(/, in Navigal'wn, a fmall fidiing vefrd or pilot 

 boat, iifcd bv the Portuguefe, which rigs with one mail, 

 fimi'ar to the Tartan ; which fee. 



Bi-AK-^our, in y^nliquily, called by the Romans lovun- 

 tum, was of fome repute among the ancient ladies as a cof- 

 metic, wherewith to fmooth the fl<in, and take away wrinkles. 

 BeaNj/7)', in Natural BiJIoiy, the name given by authors 

 to a very beautiful fly, of a very beautiful purple colour, 

 frequently found on ^can-flowers. It is produced from the 

 worm or maggot called by authors m'ula. 



Bean, in Agr'tculturc, a fort of pulfe, of which there are 

 feveval kinds : but thofe bed adapted to field culture are 

 the fmall forts, fuch as the common hnrfc-bean, and the i'lck- 

 bt-an. The large forts, or garden-beans, as the Wind/or, 

 Juong-pod, and Mazagon, have alfo been occafionally em- 

 ployed in the field, with fuccefs, in fome of the fouthern 

 dillrias. 



Beans conftantly prefer a flrong moift f-)ll, and on fuch, 

 where proper culture is given, they moHly afTurd an abun- 

 dant produce. Tick-beans are iuppofcd by lome farmers to 

 be more produftive tlian horfe beans ; but the latter grow 

 liifrher in the Hem, and produce a more llagnattd (late of 

 the air, or fmother the land more, confeqiiently are the molt 

 fuitable for the ftronger forts of foil. 



The author of the Agricultural Survey of Middicfo: ob- 

 fcrves, that beans are a crop which thrive well in almoil any 

 foil that is rather (Irong, fuch as mcdium-loaras, iandy-loams, 

 clayey-loams, and chalky-loams ; on clay, marl, chalk, and 

 fuch like cool fubfoils. And the author of the Synopfis of 

 Iluihnndrv remarks that the proper time for planting beans 

 is towards the latter eruJ of January, or early in the follow- 

 ing month ; though this bufincfs may be continued to ad- 

 vantage till the middle or latter end of March, if the weather 

 tad prevented their being got in at an earlier feafon ; but in 

 general it is beft to embrace the firll opportunity of fowing 

 them after Candlemns, as they often mifcarry if the fcafon 

 be procraftinated beyond that time, efpecially if a dry fum- 

 mer fhould fucceed. In pnrchafing beans for feed, care 

 (hould be taken to choofe fuch as are hard and bright, with- 

 cut being (hrivelled in their appearance. 



Mr. Doiialdfon, in his view of the prefent (late of huf- 

 bandry obferves, that the ordinary mode of preparing land 

 for a crop of beans, is to give one ploughing only, which is 

 generally performed in the fpring, immediately before the 

 feed is fown. 



Beans are for the moft part fown broad-caft, either on the 

 ftubble, before ploughing, or on the new tunied-up furrows. 

 Sometimes beans are fown or planted in the bottcnn of every 

 fecond or third furrow, and afterwards horfe and hand hoed. 

 In a few diftricts they are fown with a drill-machine, and at 

 fuch diftances in the rows as to leave fufficient Ipace, either 

 for hand-hoeing, when that only is intended, or for horfe 

 and hand hoeing, when it is puipofed that both thefe opera- 

 tions fhould be performed. It will at once appear obvious, 

 he thinks, that either of thefe lafl-mentioned methods is 

 preferable to fowing the feeds broad-caft, as a better oppor- 

 tunity is not only afforded of cleaning the ground properlyi 

 3 



but a more abundant return, and a produce of fuperior qua- 

 lity infured. 



The fpring feed time in general commences with the fow- 

 ing of beans. In the fouthera diftrifts, they are fown in 

 ordinary feafons fo early as the middle or towards the end 

 of February ; and in the northern parts of Scotland fo late 

 as the beginning of April. The moi'.th of March may, how- 

 ever, as has been obferved, be coafidered as the general bean 

 feed teafon. 



The firll of the above writers thinks, that on land which 

 is inclined to moillure the preparation for this crop fhould be 

 as ;<.'ilows : Early in autumn lay on the manure, and imme- 

 diately plough the land into ridglets of two feet fix inches 

 wide ; in which llate let it lie until the feafon for planting, 

 when the feed may be dibbled in, one row of beans into the 

 middle of each ridglet, at the dillance of about three inches 

 from bean to bean. They fhould be immediately covered ; 

 which may be done by children, with a garden rake or hoe, 

 or, fhould the furface of the land be dry and crumbly, a horfe 

 and a bufh harrow would do as well. In moft places, he ob- 

 ferves, it is advifeable to fet a boy with a rattle to frighten 

 away the rooks until the beans have attained fome growth. 

 The diflar.ce between the rows will not prevent the crop 

 from completely covering the ground, efpecially if the land 

 was manured for them, as they will branch out fideways, 

 three or four ftout Hems from each root. They fhould be- 

 early planted, in order to their getting fufEcient root-hold 

 of the land, and procuring fftade againil the hot weath.er fets 

 in. It is alfo fome fecurity againfl the Hack dolpl'in, which 

 is the greateft enemy the bean is ever attacked by. They 

 require a foil that can fcldom be worked without damage 

 during the winter and fpring ; confequentlyit ought to be 

 manured and gathered into one bout ridges in the autumn. 

 The fhape of thefe ridges keeps the land more dry through 

 the winter than any other, and prevents exceflive rains fronx 

 wafliing away the manure, whicli had been previoufly folded 

 by the plough into the centre of fuch ridges ; in which ftatc 

 it fliould He, as has been already obferved, until the feafon 

 for fowing ; when the land thus prepared will be fo dr)' as 

 to admit of dibbling every fair day •,. which fecures to the 

 farmer t!:e advantage of dioofing his feafon. He dunged, 

 he fays, about ten acres in September 1793, ^""^ ploughed 

 the land into ridges of two feet and a half wide, burying the 

 dung in the middle of them. The land lay dry through the 

 winter, and he dibbled one row of beans into the middle of 

 each ridge during the firft week of February 1794. My 

 neighbours, fays he, on a fimilar foil, who ploughed into flat 

 ridges of about fifteen feet wide, could not get their feed in 

 till March. The enfuing fummer was uncommonly dry : 

 my beans being fo unufually wide apart, admitted the plough 

 and hoe to work as freely between the rows as a flubboni 

 foil would allow. The plants tillered or branched till they 

 completely covered the intervals, and the field appeared a* 

 completely cropped as though it had been fown broad-caft. 

 When my neighbour's plants, fays he, were beginning to 

 pod, mine were iialf fet. The whole were alike attacked 

 by the black-fly, which reduced their crops to a bufhel or 

 two per acre, while I had twenty. 



Mr. Young, however, remarks in the Survey of Suffolk, 

 that it is there uncommon to give more than one earth for 

 beans, and generally improper, as they love a whole firm fur- 

 row, and never thrive better than on a layer. 



There are many different methods, Mr. Bannifter fays, of 

 raifing crops of beans. In fome counties they fow this pulfe 

 by broad-caft, which is by no means an eligible way, fince 

 much of the feed will be left above ground, and a great part 

 of that which, is covered by the harrow will cot be covered 



ti> 



