JUST HOW 
II3 
what not to do ? Having once succeeded in bringing to per- 
fection his first ten vegetables, a novice learns to interpret 
many signs in the life of plants to which he was blind before. 
There is no reason why the ten vegetables here discussed 
should not be successfully grown during a garden’s first year. 
Even a still larger number could of course be tried, but too 
little rather than too much is always a safe rule. 
Beans. There is no more wholesome and popular vege- 
table than beans ; a ]51entiful supply should be raised in every- 
body’s garden. There are ever so many varieties ; among the 
commonest are string beans or snap beans, — the entire pod 
being edible, — besides wax, Lima, and pole beans. The scar- 
let runner is also a pole bean and is often grown as an orna- 
mental vine, but its beans are desirable as shell beans. Almost 
all kinds of beans are now raised in dwarf varieties. The 
following hints are applicable to their culture in general. 
Beans are, on the whole, hardy and easily grown. The only 
possibility of failure would lie in planting the seed before the 
soil is warm and dry, for beans are warm-weather thrivers. 
In the north the middle of May is early enough. They like 
rich, moist soil, in contrast to a poor and shallow one, and 
need every ray of sunshine they can get. Give them always 
an abundance of light and air ; plenty of moisture too has- 
tens growth. This method makes the beans deliciously crisp ; 
grown slowly, they are likely to be tough and tasteless. The 
pods should be ready to gather in twelve or fourteen weeks. 
There can be several plantings. The first three can be made 
on ground from which there has been harvested spinach, early 
radishes, or lettuce ; after that, on ground from which there 
will have been taken peas, potatoes, and beets. If the school 
gardener can raise only one sort of bean, let it be string beans 
by preference, though it would even then be instructive to 
ripen a few shell beans. 
