15Ub The Vegetable Industry in New York State 



WHAT KIND OF BEANS TO PLANT 



This question must be settled definitely by the rule of cut 

 and try, although there are some general rules. Without ques- 

 tion the variety known as pea are best adapted to the lighter 

 loams and sharp gravelly soils. Beans of any variety do not 

 produce well on leachy soils or soils over-saturated with water. 

 The varieties of red beans are best adapted to heavier and darker 

 soils as are also the white marrows. This latter variety is pro- 

 duced profitably on a much smaller area in the bean belt than are 

 the other sorts. There is a section in Livingston county where 

 these are raised more than any other kind. 



SEED BEANS 



A great deal depends on the selection of the seed. If there 

 is a crop that one has seen growing and knows about, that has es- 

 caped the diseases so often affecting it, it will pay in dollars to 

 secure such seed at any price within reason. There are sec- 

 tions where, for different reasons, the crop is practically healthy 

 and from which seed can be procured through reliable parties. 

 Produce firms dealing largely in this crop often have shipped in 

 a carload or two of such seed for the use of the growers whose 

 crops they handle, and I have seen the yield doubled by such 

 change of seed. I have had personal experience to verify this 

 fact. 



QUANTITY OF SEED 



There is a wide difference in the quantity of seed used to the 

 acre. Many believe that thick seeding increases the yield. I 

 firmly believe that, if the land is in proper heart and adapted to 

 bean growing, as much in quantity and of better quality can be 

 grown if the plants are not crowded in the row. The rows are 

 usually 28 inches apart. In my own opinion sixteen or eighteen 

 quarts of pea beans and thirty-two to thirty-four quarts of the 

 large beans, according to variety, are sufficient where conditions 

 are right. We have noticed that when a bean plant grows alone, 

 the pods are more numerous and the individual beans are of 

 larger size. 



FERTILIZING 



There can be no general rule as to the make-up of a fertilizer 

 for beans. All soils differ in their requirements. Even differ- 



