Beans 1515 



yield of beans 



The yield of beans varies from five to thirty-five bushels to 

 the acre, according to adaptability of soil, variety of beans and 

 seasonal conditions. In the older bean growing sections both the 

 acreage and yield per acre is much less than formerly. Last 

 year in our best bean section there were more ten-bushel yields 

 than twenty. Hem again we " don't know beans," for on these 

 same fields and farms wheat and other crops yield as good, and in 

 many instances better than formerly. Hundreds of acres of bot- 

 tom land in the Genesee Valley that in former years could be 

 counted on for big yields are now given over to grass and cattle, 

 for beans are not profitable any more on these lands. New terri- 

 tory for growing this crop is being tried ont with more or less 

 success. This one thing is certain : any farm product that brings 

 in such good money in so short a time will eventually cause the 

 removal or correction, to a great degree, of adverse conditions and 

 influences that now handicap its progress. 



DISEASES OF BEANS 



The principal diseases affecting beans in field culture are 

 anthracnose or pod spot, rust and blight, the first being the most 

 destructive. These are fungous diseases and as yet the station 

 experiments have not shown that any treatment of plant or seed 

 will prove of practical usefulness in controlling the trouble. The 

 seed from a pod that is free from disease, planted on ground that 

 is not infected with the spores of disease left over from previous 

 crops, will produce crops free from disease. Blight and rust we 

 have long had to contend with. These are mostly confined to the 

 foliage and are more disastrous to the crop in hot, moist seasons. 

 No treatment of the seed has yet proved of any value in controll- 

 ing these diseases. Pod selection is the only preventive. 



AFTER CROP CONDITION OF THE SOIL 



As we have referred to soil preparation and conditions pre- 

 ceding the beau crop, we will now consider the aftermath. If 

 the crop has been properly cultivated, what few weeds escaped 

 destruction have been cut out by the bean harvester, and the land 

 is in the best possible condition for wheat seeding after being gone 



