64 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



rest, with the exception of the dwarf tan 

 or bog bean, which is not worth notice, 

 grow about 3 feet or more in height : 

 they require, therefore, the largest space ; 

 and as has been, we hope, clearly enough 

 stated in the case of pease, that there is 

 great loss in crowding such crops, we 

 would advise 4 feet apart for each of 

 these. Regarding distance plant from 

 plant, the new royal cluster branches out, 

 forming a dense bush crowded with 

 pods ; it should be planted a foot apart 

 in the line, and the seed placed 2| inches 

 deep ; the white blossomed should be 

 placed 3 inches apart in the line ; Mar- 

 shall's prolific as much, as it is a branch- 

 ing one to some extent, and the same 

 depth as the last : the rest should not be 

 nearer than 4 inches in the line, and all 

 of them 3^ inches deep. 



Beans forwarded for transplanting, as 

 has been recommended for pease, should, 

 as soon as they are 4 inches high, if the 

 weather be favourable, be brought out 

 and set in their permanent place. For 

 this the best way is to stretch a line from 

 end to end of the ground in a south and 

 north direction (for reason, vide Pea). The 

 surface is then smoothed down along the 

 line, and a trench taken out with a spade, 

 as in planting box-edgings, and to the 

 depth of 5 inches, so that the roots may 

 be the better arranged. Along the line 

 set the plants at distances apart accord- 

 ing to their kinds as specified above, 

 taking them carefully out of the pots or 

 boxes they have been growing in, separat- 

 ing them so that their roots receive no 

 injury; cover the roots carefully, and pro- 

 ceed with the next row in like manner, 

 pointing over the ground as the operation 

 proceeds, and leaving it as rough as pos- 

 sible. A few branches of any deciduous 

 tree should be stuck along each row, on 

 the side the prevailing winds of the sea- 

 son blow from, avoiding evergreens, as, 

 while they no doubt shelter the plants 

 best, they are apt to become blown about 

 by the wind themselves, and may do more 

 harm than good. The wire cages we 

 have spoken of in the article Pea will be 

 found exceedingly useful for setting over 

 the newly-planted beans, and to them a 

 few branches of evergreens might be 

 firmly tied. This would prevent their 

 being blown about, and afford a much 

 more efficient protection at the same 



time. Of all modes of protecting such 

 crops, short of glass-cases, we believe 

 there is none better than this. From 

 the distances we have given, there will be 

 no difficulty in calculating the quantity 

 of seed required. The following is Aber- 

 cromby's allowance, and his, as he was so 

 minute in such matters, may be taken as 

 the greater quantity — we, since his day, 

 planting much thinner : For early crops, 

 one pint of seed for every 80 feet of row ; 

 for general crops, two quarts for every 

 240 feet ; and for late crops, nearly the 

 same as for the early ones. This is pre- 

 suming the smaller kinds to be employed. 

 In summer, it often happens that the 

 ground is too dry to promote speedy 

 germination in seeds so dry and hard as 

 the bean. Some have recommended, in 

 this case, steeping the beans for an hour 

 or two in rain-water previous to planting. 

 A much better way is to soak the ground 

 with water as soon as the drills are 

 formed, to plant the seed, and cover up 

 immediately. Virgil says that soaking 

 beans in lees, or dregs of oil and nitre, 

 has the effect of causing a more rapid 

 vegetation, and the production of a larger 

 crop ; and other ancient authors recom- 

 mend their being steeped for three days 

 in water mixed with urine. 



It is a common practice in cottage- 

 gardening economy to plant beans along 

 with crops of potatoes, and also with cab- 

 bage, setting a bean between every two 

 plants in the line. Speechley, in " Prac- 

 tical Hints," p. 17, recommended this, and 

 brought forward his beans first in a bed 

 thickly sown, and in a warm place — when 

 of a fit size transplanting them, setting 

 a bean alternately with a potato or cab- 

 bage in the same row ; but in such cases 

 he had his rows 3 feet apart, and his pota- 

 toes 18 inches apart, so that the bean is 

 9 inches from the potato on each side. 

 Being advanced somewhat before planting, 

 the beans have the start of the potatoes, 

 and are matured and removed before they 

 injure the potato crop. The propriety of 

 this mode has been questioned ; but we 

 have seen excellent crops of both veget- 

 ables so produced. In garden-culture the 

 process of transplanting beans is very ad- 

 vantageous : it moderates their growth, so 

 that they do not incline to increase in height 

 after their flowers are set, and induces 

 precocity in the maturing of the crop. 



