466 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



One quart of seed will plant 100 feet of drill of the bush bt?ans; or 

 1 quart of Limas will plant 100 hills. 



Limas are the richest of beans, but they often fail to mature in the 

 northern states. The land should not be ver}^ strong in nitrogen (or 

 stable manure), else the plants will run too much to vine and be too 

 late. Choose a fertile sandy or gravelly soil with warm exposure, 

 use some soluble commercial fertilizer to start them off, and give them 

 the best of culture. Aim to have the pods set before the droughts of 

 midsummer come. Good trellises for beans are made by wool twine 

 stretched between two horizontal wires, one of which is drawn a foot 

 above the ground and the other 6 or 7 feet high. 



Bean plants are not troubled by insects to any extent, but they are 

 sometimes attacked by blight. When this occurs, do not plant the 

 same ground to beans again for a year or two. 



Beet. — This vegetable is grown for its thick root, and for its 



herbage (used as " greens 5 ^^^^ 

 ornamental-leaved varieties are 

 sometimes planted in flower-gardens. 



Being one of the hardiest of spring 

 vegetables, the seed may be sown as 

 early in the spring as the ground can 

 be worked. A light, sandy soil is the 

 best on which to grow beets to jDer- 

 fection, but any well-tilled garden 

 land will raise satisfactory crops. On 

 heavy ground the turnip beet gives 

 the best results, as the growth is 

 nearly all at or above the surface. 

 The long varieties, having tapering 

 roots running deep into the soil, are 

 liable to be misshapen unless the 

 physical condition of the soil is such 

 that the roots meet with little ob- 

 struction. A succession of sowings 

 should be made, at intervals of two 

 297. Bastian turnip beet. to three weeks, until late summer, as 



