58 the amateur’s kitchen garden. 
sow thin enough, and so in our early morning walks in spring 
we go through the rows and pull half or two-thirds of the 
plants out, and leave them on the ground to perish. The 
amateur who manages things in his own way entirely, will find 
that the largest sorts of beans will pay well in single rows, 
three feet apart, and the plants eighteen inches asunder in 
the rows. If they come up too thick it will always pay to 
transplant them ; but they must be carefully lifted with a 
trowel when they have made three or four rough leaves, and 
the work should be done in dull or showery weather. 
Summer Culture. — The production and quality of beans 
are greatly enhanced by a proper course of culture, and the 
sowing of the seed is to be regarded as only one step towards 
success. When the plants are two inches high, the ground 
should be sown with gypsum and then hoed over, care being- 
taken to avoid injuring the young plants. About a bushel 
per rood of gypsum will suffice, and its effects will be almost 
magical, more especially on ground that was previously well 
prepared by deep digging and manuring. It is not a good 
practice to give water to the growing plants, but in the case of 
long- continued drought it might be wise to open narrow V 
shaped trenches between the rows and fill them with water 
every evening for a week, or even a fortnight, at the time 
when the plants are advancing into flower, and then to close 
the trench and give no more. As the flowers open, the black- 
fly will probably appear. Strange to say, although this fly 
sucks the juices of the plant, it is not often injurious to an 
extent to cause anxiety, although, of course, we prefer to be 
altogether without it. As the fly usually affects the top of 
the plant, because, we may suppose, of the tenderness of the 
tissues there, it is a good practice to pinch out the tops and 
burn them. It is usual to pinch out the tops as soon as the 
plants are fairly in flower and the young beans are visible at 
the bottom ; but, if there is no fly present, the pinching is not 
necessary, and is even objectionable when rudely performed, 
as it often is. The object of the topping is to prevent the 
prod uction of an extravagant number of beans of comparatively 
poor quality, which may be expected if all the flowers are 
allowed to open and fructify. The books say, “ two or three 
inches of stem should be broken off;” but it would be better 
to say, pinch out the tops as far down as they can be severed 
with the thumb nail, as soon as the pods are seen emerging 
