34 



BEAN. 



Quantity of seeds.- — For early crops, one j)int of seed will 

 be requisite for every eighty feet of row ; for main crops, 

 two quarts for every 240 feet of row ; and for late crops, 

 nearly the same as the early. 



Method of sowing. — " Plant all the sorts in rows, two feet 

 and a half apart, for the smaller or very early, or very late 

 kinds; and three feet for the larger; the smaller beans two 

 inches deep, and three inches distant in the row^; the larger 

 three inches deep, and four inches distant in the row." 



Transplanting. — Speechly constantly transplants his early 

 bean crops, and considers that this plant may be as easily 

 transplanted as cabbage, or any other vegetable. It is a prac- 

 tice with him to plant beans, alterp^ately with potatoes, in 

 the same row ; the rovv s three feet apart, and the potatoes 

 eighteen inches apart in the row, so that the beans are nine 

 inches from the pota^toes. The beans are transplanted, by 

 wdiich means they have the start and advantage of the po- 

 tatoes and weeds, and, as they come in early, may be gath- 

 ered before they can possibly incommode or injure the 

 potatoes. 



Manual process. — The work of sovv^ing is most generally 

 effected by a dibble, having a thick, blunt end, to make a 

 wide aperture for each bean, to admit it clear to the bottom, 

 without any narrow, hollow parts below : strike the earth 

 fully and regularly into the holes over the inserted beans. 

 Or the planting may be performed, occasionally, in drills 

 drawn with a hoe the proper depth and distance as above ; 

 place the beans at intervals along the bottom of each drill, 

 and earth tbem over evenly ; which method, though suitable 

 to a,ny kinds, moy be more particularly adopted in sowing 

 the early and other small sorts. 



Soaking seed in summer. — In planting late crops in June 

 or July, if the weather be dry, it is eligible to give the beans 

 a previous soaking for several hours in soft water; or, if 

 they are to be sown in drills, Vvater the drills beforehand ; 

 then directly put in the beans, and earth them in while the 

 ground remains moist. 



Subsequent culture. — ''As the plants come up, and ad- 

 vance from four to six inches high, hoe up some earth to the 

 stems on both sides of each row, cutting down all weeds. 

 Repeat the hoeing as future weeds arise, both to keep the 

 ground about the plants clean, and to loosen the earth to 



