BEANS. 



165 



beans are quite tender and should not be planted untiil the soil 

 is warm and all danger of frost is over. They are sown for early 

 use about the time for general corn planting. For the main crop 

 they should be planted about the first of June. 



Bush Beans. — These are very easily grown and are adapted 

 to a great variety of purposes. For a field crop on a large scale, 

 the seed is generally sown with a horse drill or with a hand 

 garden drill, in rows three feet apart. It is sometimes best to 

 mark out the land first and then follow with the drill in the 

 marks. Seed should be sown two or three inches deep. On a 

 smaller scale, the land may be furrowed out with a one-horse 

 plow or with a w^heel hoe and the seed sowed by hand. After 

 culture consists in keeping the land well cultivated with a horse 

 hoe and free from weeds. Varieties of dwarf beans for use in a 

 green state, such as string or snap beans, may be sown 

 at any time from the middle of May to the first of August 

 and with good prospects of a good crop of green pods even at 

 the latter date. Some kinds have edible pods in less than six 

 weeks from the time the seed is sown. 



Harvesting 3eans. — For use in a green state, the pods of 

 some kinds of beans are picked as soon as large enough to use 

 and when they are tender and fresh; in other cases the beans 

 are used when still fresh, but not until they are large enough 

 to shell from the pods. Field beans are harvested by being 

 pulled by hand or gathered with a bean gatherer when they are 

 ripe, laid in rows until dry enough for threshing, then threshed 

 at once or stored for threshing later on. Great care should be 

 taken in storing the pods to prevent molding of the beans, and 

 in threshing no" to break the beans. In a small way beans 

 may be threshed out by hand, but on a large scale any common 

 threshing machine may be used, providing suitable changes are 

 made in it so it will not break the beans. 



Varieties of Bush Beans. — There are many varieties of bush 

 beans having desirable qualities, but only a few of the most 

 valuable are mentioned here: 



Field Beans. — White Marrow, Burlingame Medium, Navy and 

 Snowflake. 



