5 
a favorite for first sowing. The Lackawan¬ 
na is a new variety of great excellence com¬ 
ing in soon after the Erfurt. It produces 
elegant, large, solid heads, which are the 
admiration of all. The seeds are scarce and 
valuable. Early London is an old standard 
English variety. Nonpareil and Lenor- 
mand's Short Stemmed, are mainly used for 
the later crops. 
Beans and Bean Weevils. 
Beans are not to be planted until the soil 
becomes warm in spring. In rich gardens 
we prefer sowing them thickly in drills 
about three feet apart, for the reason that 
they do better when thick enough to shade 
each other providing the soil is rich enough 
dreer’s improved lima bean. 
to sustain them. For field cultivation they 
are usually planted in In'11s as they are more 
easily kept free from weeds. 
The greatest enemy the bean crop has 
ever had in this country is the Bean Weevil 
which lias quite recently made its appear¬ 
ance with us. It somewhat resembles the 
old Pea Weevil, with which all are familiar, 
in its appearance and manner of operating. 
It is however somewhat smaller and much 
more destructive, as it deposits its eggs in a 
cluster, which produce frequently more 
than a dozen larvae in a single bean. As 
beans are more universally used for food in 
a dry state than peas, this pest is much 
more damaging in its effects than the pea 
weevil. The only way to keep it in check 
or to extirminate it, will be for every plant¬ 
er to use the greatest care in the selection 
of his seed, and to see that he keeps or 
plants none that are in the least affected, 
for it is the weevils that are planted with 
the seed or that escape from it in the spring 
that lay the eggs for the next crop. So far 
as we can observe the beans do not show 
any indication of being affected when gath¬ 
ered in the fall. They undoubtedly contain 
the eggs but they are too small to be readily 
seen by the naked eye. If kept in a warm 
place during the winter, the weevils will 
rapidly develop and eat their way out, com¬ 
pletely spoiling most of the beans. 
We shall experiment by putting various 
substances such as Gum Camphor, Turpen¬ 
tine, Carbolic Acid &c., in bags with affect¬ 
ed seeds this Fall and see if we cannot kill 
the weevils before they mature. If this fails 
we shall procure our seed beans from sec¬ 
tions not yet infested. 
If the Bean Weevil is at work in your lo¬ 
cality and you are go ng to risk planting 
any seeds which you know are, or possibly 
may be affected by them, be sure to keep 
them in tight bags in a cool place so that 
they will not hatch out until late in the 
Spring. Then, just before planting, put the 
beans in a tin pail and pour some hot wa¬ 
ter over them. We have tried this remedy 
and know that it will do the work. If all 
would help fight, few such pests need thrive. 
Varieties. For early snap sorts Dwarf 
Black Wax, Jones's Ivory Pod, and Feriuj's 
Golden Wax are the tenderest and best. The 
Large White Marrowfat is unexcelled as a 
dry cooking sort. The Mexican Tree Bean 
was sent to us last season. It is a very pro¬ 
ductive variety, a single bean planted in a 
place branching out and producing a full 
hill. 
Of Foie varieties nothing has ever been 
tried by us which produces equal to the 
Kentucky Wonder. It has very long thick 
pods which are remarkably well filled. 
Dreer's Improved Lima continues to give 
satisfaction, though it is rather too late to 
perfectly mature for seed in this latitude. 
