BEAN* 



33 



eases, and has fewer insect enemies to encounter than 

 wheat" 



A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural Society writes — 

 " The last spring being remarkably dry, I soaked my seed 

 barley in the black water, taken from a resei-voir, which 

 constantly receives the draining of my dung heap and sta- 

 bles. As the light grains floated on the top, I skimmed them 

 off, and let the rest stand 24 hours. On taking it from the 

 water, I mixed the grain with a sufficient quantity of sifted 

 wood ashes, to make it spread regularly, and sowed three 

 fields with it The produce was sixty bushels per acre. 

 I sowed some other fields with the same seed dry, but the 

 crop, like those of my neighbours, was very poor, not more 

 than twenty bushels per acre, and much mixed with green 

 corn and weeds when harvested. I also sowed some of 

 my seed dry on one ridge in each of my former fields, but 

 the produce was very poor in comparison of the other parts 

 of the field." 



BE AX. — Vicia faba. — There are two distinct species of 

 the bean, which are often confounded by writers on agricul- 

 tural subjects, to wit J vicia faba, garden bean,or horse bean, 

 and pkaseoliis vulgaris^ or kidney bean. The want of distin- 

 guishing between these two difterent genera or sorts of 

 plants, may lead to erroneous practices, and consequent 

 detriment to the cultivator. 



The vicia faba^ or garden bean, (often called English 

 bean^) is an annual plant, rising from two to four feet high, 

 with a thick, angular stem, the leaves divided, and without 

 tendrils ; the flowers w^hite, w^ith a black spot in the middle 

 of the ing ; seed-pods thick, long, woolly within, and en- 

 closing the large ovate flatted seeds, for the sake of which 

 the plant is cultivated in gardens. The following varieties 

 are advertised for sale in Mr. Russell's Catalogue, viz. 



English dwarfs, 

 Early mazagan, 

 Sword long pod, 



Green nonpareil, 

 Broad Windsor. 



^' These varieties should be planted as early as practica- 

 ble in April." 



It is said that this kind of bean is propagated to the best 

 advantage in a stiff, moist loam, with a considerable propor- 

 tion of clay. The following are Mr. Loudon's directions 

 for its culture • — 



