B E A 



obfffTf* tVat it would perhaps be more pn^dent to omit iliat 

 work, lift it mipht contribi-ttf tnwarik looftnini; the foil be- 

 yond a due medium ; for on tlicfe foils the chief nim fliould 

 be to rlofc them as much as poffible, that at wheat fted- 

 tiine the furfacc may be pcrfcftly tight ; and therefore to 

 roll and harrow the bean and pea irround on fucli foils, in 

 order to rid the field of the haulm, Soe. and when it has lain 

 fome lime, to plough the feed furrows, are the whole proctfs 

 iieced'ar)' to prepare it fur the fntcceding crop of wheat : 

 and this (hows, he thinks, the nectlTity of fowing with this 

 j!;rjin or with peafc that pan of the farm which is moll free 

 from weeds, and in the beil heart; rot only that thefe pulfe, 

 both of them (efpceially beans) require to be fown on good 

 land, and on fuch as has been improved by art, but likewife 

 that the prattens may be fo perfectly clean, as not to require 

 the operation of fpuddling. In Kent, they cut tlicir beans 

 with a hook, and bind them into (heaves wiih rope-yarns. 

 Thefe (heaves are fet up in (hocks of various forms, either 

 five on each lide, in the manner of wheat (hocks, or in a 

 circular form, four (heaves to the (hock. The expence of 

 cutting, bindinjj-, and fctting up is from 4s. to 6s. or 7s. 

 per acre, according to the degree of goodnefs in the crop. 

 Some farmers, in fuch years when the hops have failed, 

 cut up the bind, and referve it as a fubftitute for rope yarns 

 to tie their bean (lieaves. But though this practice may at 

 firft fight hear the appearance of frugality, it will be found 

 eventually to he the moft expenfivc ; as the cutting the hop- 

 vines at that feafon will be apt to caufe thc;n to bleed, 

 to the infinite prejudice of the (locks ) and thus the future 

 crops may be hazarded by a premature removal of the bind- 

 ing thofe years when, from tlie failure of the hops, it (liould 

 feem to be of no further ufe. Mr. Marfliall, hov/cvcr, re- 

 commends the pulling beans in preference to cutting ; for, 

 he fays, the benefit the foil receives will more than pay for 

 the extra labour in clearing. Another advantage aridng 

 from their being pulled, is the ilubbornnefs of the roots 

 keeping the mow open, and admitting a circulation of air. 

 And he fays in another place, that by experience he found 

 pulling up by hand far preferable to cutting with lickles ; 

 as they may be pulled up not only much fader, but much 

 cleaner from weeds and grafs than when cut, befides leaving 

 the land in a (late greatly fupcrior. The wade is alfo lefs, 

 fo much fo as to lofe fcarcely a bean ; and the bean ftalks 

 are immediately ready to bind and fet up ; and by the roots 

 lifting them from the ground, the air acquires a free circula- 

 tion. The work is alto eafier to the labourer, who (lands more 

 upright, and the power required is much lefs, efpecially in dry 

 weather. By ftriking the roots of each handful againft the 

 foot, the mould is almoft wholly difengaged from the fibres. 

 The foil in the drills, inllead of being bound by the roots, 

 and encumbered by the (lubble, is left as h.iofe as a garden, and 

 the furface free from obdruftions ; and if thoroughly hoed, is 

 as lit as a fallow to be fowed with wheat on one ploughing. 



Beans are every where an uncertain crop, confequently 

 the average produce difficult to eftimate. In Kent, Mr. 

 Young thinks, they probably exceed four quarters ; but 

 in Sud'olk he (hould not ellimate them at more than 

 three : yet five or fix are not uncommon. According to 

 Mr. Donaldfon, a crop of beans, taking the idand at large, 

 may be fuppofed to vary from fixteen to forty buditls ; but 

 that a good average crop cannot be reckoned to exceed 

 twenty. And in Middlefex, Mr. Middletou tells us, that 

 bean crops vary from ten to eighty buihcls per acre. They 

 are rendered a very precarious crop by the ravages of my- 

 riads of finall black infcdls of the fame fpecies. The lady- 

 I'irds are fuppofed either to generate or feed on them, as 

 they are obfcrved to be much among ihcm. Mr. Foot fays, 



B K A 



the arerage produce is from three and a half to fotir quar« 

 tcrs per acre. 



It is afTcrted, by the author of the Synopfis of Hudiandry, 

 that bean draw, if well harveded, form« a very hearty and 

 nutritious diet for cattle in the winter-time ; and that both 

 oxen and horfts, when not worked, will thrive on it. Sheep 

 are alfo very fond of browfing on the pods ; and the ravingt 

 are very nutritious manger meat for horfts. But in Mlddlc- 

 ftx the draw is generally employed in bedding the farmer'* 

 horfes and other cattle, and in littering the farm yards» 

 where it is picked over by young dock ; though fometimes 

 a load is fold for 20s. or 25s. delivered in. Wlien the 

 bean-di-aw and the ca-v'mg-chaff are made ufe of as a fodder 

 for cattle, they diould always be newly threflied, as in that 

 date they are much more nutritious than when they have 

 been kept fome length of time. 



Crops of this kind are for the mod part applied to the 

 purpofe of feeding horfes, hogs, and other domedic ani- 

 mals. Ill the county of Middlefex all a^e given to horfes, 

 except whxt are preferved for feed, and fuch as are podded 

 while green, and fent to the London markets. When pigs 

 are fed with bca;;5, it is obfcrved that the meat becomes fo 

 hard as to make very ordinary pork, but good bacon. It is 

 alfo fuppofed that the mealmen grind many horfe-beans among 

 wheat, to be manufartured into bread. And Dr. Darwin 

 remarks in his Phytologia, th?t a drike or bu(hcl of oats 

 weighs perhaps forty pounds, and a drikc or bu(hel of peas 

 and beans fixty pounds ; and that as the (kin of peas and 

 beans is much lefs in quantity than that of oats, he fuppofes 

 there may be at lead (ifteen pounds of flour more in a llrike 

 of peas and beans than in a drike of oats. There is alfo 

 reafon to believe, he fays, that the flour of beans is more 

 nutritive than that of oats, as appears in the fattening of 

 hogs ; whence, according to the refpeftive prices of thefe 

 two articles, he fufpefts that peas and beans generally 

 fupply a cheaper provender fot horfes than oats, as well as 

 for other domedic animals. But as the flour of peas and 

 beans is more oily, he believes, than that of oats, it may in 

 general be fomewhat more difficult of digeftion ; hence, 

 when a horfe has taken a domach full of peafe and beans 

 alone, he will be lefs aftive for an hour or two, as his 

 drength will be more employed in the digedion of them, 

 than when he has taken a domach fi:!l of oats. Hence it 

 may be found advifable to mix the bran of wheat with the 

 peans and beans, a food of lefs nutriment but of eafier di- 

 gedion ; or to let the horfes eat before or after them the 

 coar("e tudccks of four grafs, which remain in moid padures 

 in the winter ; or ladly, to mi.^: finely cut llraw with 

 them. 



Bran, in Gardening. See Vici.l. 



Bean-Goc/?. See Anas. 



Bean, Ignai'ms's. See Icnatius'j- ^fjw. 



Bean, Kidney, or French, in Botany. See PHASECLUSi 



Bean, Kidney, Tree. Sec Glvcink. 



BiAN, ]\Ialaeen, ihc anacaidium orientale, is a fruit of a 

 fhining black colour, of the fliape of a heart flattened, with 

 a very thick pedicle occupying almod the whole bafis. For 

 the charafters of the plant that produces it, fee Avicennia 

 Tomenlofa ; and for its quahties, fee Anacardium. 



Bk AN, Mohicea, a name given by fir Robert Sibbald in 

 his Prodromus, and by Mr. Wallace in his defcription of the 

 Orkney iflands to a fort of fiuit frequently cad on (hore in 

 the north-wed iflands of Scotland, efpecially on the coads 

 mod ex'pofcd to the waves of the great ocean. They- arc 

 called by fome Orkney beans, and are not the produce of 

 that ifland, or indeed of any other part of Europe, but of 

 America. Sir Hans Sloane procured four fpecies of them 



little 



