1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
859 
inch  lengths,  but  weak,  light  straw  will  not  bear  the 
wind  unless  in  six  or  four  inch  laps.  A  steep  pitch  is 
desirable,  and  wide,  over-hanging  gables  will  give 
a  pretty  appearance  to  the  smallest  thatched  build¬ 
ing.  The  straw  is  here.  The  winter  storms  soon  will 
be.  How  are  your  roofs  ?  Hollister  sage. 
Fairfield  County,  Ct. 
BEAN  GROWING  IN  WESTERN  NEW  YORK. 
THE  CROP  IX  A  FRUIT  ORCHARD. 
Mr.  W.  H.  Day  is  one  of  the  most  practical  and 
scientific  farmers  in  Livingston  County,  N.  Y.  Ex¬ 
perience  and  a  common-sense  application  of  it  are  the 
foundation  upon  which  his  success  is  built  After 
cropping  the  principal  part  of  his  160  acres  for  years, 
he  has  decided  to  set  out  30  acres  of  the  best  part  of 
his  farm  in  fruit,  and  the  trees  are  now  on  the  ground, 
and  some  in  it.  They  are  fine  stock,  raised  by  S.  D. 
of  a  nine-tooth  drill  the  middle  one  and  the  two  teeth 
next  the  outside  are  used  to  sow.  These  are  spread 
slightly  so  that  the  rows  are  26  inches  apart.  In  this 
way  the  inside  wheel  follows  the  last  wheel  mark  in 
each  trip  across  the  lot.  The  teeth  that  sow  are  set 
ahead  of  the  others  and  those  that  follow  on  each  side 
help  to  cover  the  beans.  All  the  teeth  may  sow  phos¬ 
phate,  but  I  have  not  experienced  any  benefit  from 
its  use,  and  depend  solely  upon  manure.  Those  who 
believe  in  ‘  moonology  ’  should  plant  beans  when  the 
moon  is  new.  I  would  set  the  first  week  in  June  as 
about  the  right  time  to  plant.” 
“  How  do  you  work  the  crop  ?  ” 
“  I  cultivate  as  often  as  possible,  but  never  when 
the  vines  are  wet  with  dew  or  rain.  I  believe  the 
drying  of  the  wet  dirt  on  the  leaves  causes  rust.  I 
sometimes  have  to  hoe  the  crop.  I  saved  it  this  year 
by  turning  in  all  hands  and  cutting  large  weeds  and 
thistles.” 
Notes  from  the  Rural  Grounds. 
POTATO  TRIALS. 
PART  II. 
Hampden  Beauty. — From  F.  Ford  &  Son,  Ravenna, 
Ohio.  Three  hills  yielded  6%  pounds  of  which  16 
were  of  marketable  size,  three  small.  This  is  at  the 
rate  of  544.50  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  shape  is  long, 
cylindrical,  smooth.  Eyes  few  and  not  prominent. 
Buff- white  skin.  It  is  a  handsome  potato,  though  too 
long,  of  the  intermediate  class  as  to  ripening.  Heavy 
vines.  Eaten  September  18.  Flesh  nearly  white ; 
dry  and  mealy.  Fair  quality.  The  illustration,  Fig 
322,  shows  the  typical  form. 
Eureka. — From  Ford  &  Son.  Three  hills  yielded 
five  pounds,  of  which  19  were  large,  six  small.  This 
is  at  the  rate  of  403.33  bushels  to  the  acre.  Buff- 
white  skin,  shapely,  smooth,  few  eyes,  cylindrical  and 
inclined  to  be  too  long.  It  is  an  intermediate,  th  e 
Hampden  Beauty.  Fig.  322. 
Freeman.  Fig.  323. 
Willard  of  Geneva,  and  are  composed  of  plums,  cher¬ 
ries,  pears  and  quinces  in  about  equal  numbers.  Mr. 
Day  stated  that  the  ground  to  be  occupied  by  the 
young  orchard  was  to  be  planted  in  beans  next  year, 
and  he  was  induced  to  give  the  result  of  his  experience 
in  bean  culture.  A  rich  soil,  said  he,  and  early  plow¬ 
ing,  medium  early  planting,  thorough  cultivation  and 
early  marketing  of  the  crop  are  essential  to  profitable 
bean  culture.  Beans  flourish  best  on  a  loamy  soil : 
the  yield  is  fair,  but  the  vines  are  small  and  stunted. 
“  What  crops  should  precede  beans  ?”  I  asked. 
“They  do  the  best  by  far  when  planted  on  sod 
ground,  manured  well  and  plowed  very  early,”  said  he. 
“  Weeds  in  the  crop  are  hard  to  cope  with  and  are 
least  abundant  after  sod.  Harrow  the  land  when  they 
have  started  and  break  up  thoroughly  with  a  three- 
horse  cultivator.  As  soon  as  they  have  started  the 
second  time,  cultivate  again,  then  harrow  and  sow 
as  soon  as  possible.  A  man  running  a  three-horse 
cultivator  can  do  more  in  a  day  towards  keeping  weeds 
out  of  the  crop  before  it  has  been  planted  than  he  can 
in  a  week  with  an  ordinary  cultivator  after  it  has  been 
put  in.  I  have  not  generally  practiced  fall  plowing, 
but  a  few  years  ago  I  had  an  experience  which  con¬ 
vinced  me  that  it  would  prove  more  disastrous  to  the 
weed  crop  than  early  spring  plowing.  The  winter  was 
mild  and  a  portion  of  a  field  had  been  plowed  late  in 
the  fall  and  the  rest  laid  over  until  spring.  This  field 
was  planted  to  beans  and  the  spring-plowed  portions 
could  readily  be  distinguished  at  all  times  during  the 
growth  of  the  crop  by  a  heavy  growth  of  a  noxious 
grass  among  the  beans,  which  hardly  sprang  up  at  all 
upon  the  fall-plowed  land.  I  think  the  beans  grew 
more  rapidly  upon  the  last  mentioned  land,  because 
the  sod  was  rotted,  their  growth  being  so  rank  that 
the  vines  shaded  the  ground  before  the  grass  or  weeds 
could  get  a  foot-hold.  I  repeat  the  statement  that 
rich  land  is  essential  to  successful  bean  culture.  I 
notice  that  in  my  garden,  which  is  well  fertilized  with 
barnyard  manure,  beans  always  bear  wonderfully 
well.  I  am  not  troubled  with  ‘  running  to  vines.’ 
I  plant  in  reasonable  season  so  that  the  abundant 
growth  will  have  a  chance  to  mature  and  the  result  is 
an  abundant  crop  of  fine,  large  beans.  Beans  are 
sometimes  planted  after  corn  or  other  crops,  but  land 
that  has  been  cropped  for  several  years  will  produce 
only  a  small  yield.  Beans  should  be  planted  on  a  well 
manured  sod  as  early  as  possible. 
“  What  is  the  best  date  for  planting  ?  ” 
“The  best  crop  I  have  ever  had  was  planted  on  July  3, 
but  that  was  an  exceptional  year,  and  subsequent  ex¬ 
periments  in  late  planting  have  proved  unsatisfactory. 
The  objection  to  very  early  planting  is  the  danger  from 
frost  and  dry  weather  just  as  the  pods  are  filling,  and 
the  lack  of  opportunity  to  kill  two  growths  of  weeds 
before  planting.” 
“  How  do  you  plant  ?  ” 
“  I  use  a  common  grain  drill,  and  sow  three  pecks  to 
a  bushel  per  acre.  All  the  teeth  are  let  down,  but  in  case 
“  How  is  the  crop  harvested  ?  ” 
“  I  use  the  bean  harvester  which  cuts  two  rows; 
there  are  several  in  market  which  work  upon  similar 
plans.  The  roots  of  the  beans  are  cut  off  and  the  two 
rows  are  pulled  together  by  rods.  Then  three  of  these 
rows,  or  six  crop  rows,  are  piled  together;  one  man 
goes  ahead  on  the  center  row  making  bunches,  the 
beans  from  the  side  rows  are  piled  on  top  of  these 
bunches  and  when  cured  all  are  drawn  in  on  hay 
racks.” 
“  What  is  your  opinion  of  hand  pulling  ?  ” 
“  It  is  by  far  the  best  way  to  get  all  the  beans.  On 
portions  of  a  row  where  for  some  reason  vines  are 
short  or  scanty  there  is  not  enough  of  them  to  be 
gathered  into  the  center  of  the  row  by  the  rods  and 
they  are  sometimes  covered  up  in  the  furrow  which 
Mount  Carbon.  Fig.  324. 
the  plow  of  the  machine  makes,  but  the  cost  of  hand 
pulling  is  so  great  that  I  think  it  far  cheaper  to  use 
the  machine.  Beans  that  are  full  of  grass  will  have 
to  be  pulled  by  *hand,  and  that  is  not  the  way  to  raise 
beans.  Those  who  sell  early  invariably  receive  the 
best  price.  I  have  raised  the  Medium  bean  for  a  gen¬ 
eral  crop,  but  will  try  the  Pea  next  year.  About 
50,000  bushels  of  beans  are  handled  annually  at  a 
station  about  four  miles  from  here.  In  an  all-day’s 
drive  I  could  touch  at  points  7  to  14  miles  distant  from 
my  house  where  at  least  200,000  bushels  in  the  aggre¬ 
gate  are  annually  marketed.”  A.  d.  warner. 
*  *  # 
One  cent  will  carry  this  paper  to  your  friend  in  any 
part  of  North  America  after  you  have  written  your 
name  on  the  corner  to  show  whom  it  is  from. 
vines  beginning  to  die  early  in  August.  Eaten  Sep¬ 
tember  19.  Nearly  white  flesh,  quite  mealy  and  dry. 
Not  of  the  best  quality  but  very  good. 
Freeman  (second  year). — Ten  hills  yielded  13  pounds, 
of  which  34  were  of  rather  small  marketable  size;  64 
small.  This  is  at  the  rate  of  314  60  bushels  to  the 
acre.  A  few  were  large,  and  somewhat  smaller  in  the 
middle  than  at  the  ends.  The  rest  were  more  smooth 
and  shapely,  though  variable  in  shape.  Often  rus- 
seted.  They  do  not  like  a  dry  season.  Vines  began 
to  die  July  18.  A  few  of  the  vines,  however,  were 
alive  as  late  as  August  3.  The  quality,  as  reported 
last  year,  is  excellent.  Fig.  323  shows  the  best  shape. 
Mount  Carbon. — From  Ford  &  Son.  Three  hills 
yielded  9%  pounds,  of  which  26  were  large,  nine 
small.  This  is  at  the  rate  of  743.72  bushels  to  the 
acre.  It  is  inclined  to  be  round  like  the  Peachblow, 
though  more  shapely.  Eyes  few  and  usually  not 
deep.  Buff  skin.  It  is  a  late  variety.  Eaten  Sep¬ 
tember  19.  Flesh  nearly  white.  It  falls  to  pieces 
when  boiled,  but  is  not  a  very  dry  potato.  See  Fig.  324. 
Advance. — From  Ford  &  Son.  Three  hills  yielded 
914  pounds,  of  which  22  were  large  and  19  small.  This 
is  at  the  rate  of  766.33  bushels  to  the  acre.  Buff  skin, 
shading  to  a  feeble  purple.  Variable  shape.  Eyes 
often  deep.  Vines  began  to  die  August  1.  Eaten 
September  21.  Mealy,  dry,  white  flesh  of  nearly  first 
quality. 
Rural  Blush. — Four  hills  yielded  10%  pounds.  The 
seed  is  being  selected  from  year  to  year  from  the 
shapeliest  tubers  and  from  hills  of  the  best  yield. 
The  originator  of  the  Blush,  some  years  before  it  was 
disseminated  by  The  R.  N.-Y.,  wrote  to  us  that  many 
of  the  large  tubers  were  decayed  or  “hollow-hearted.” 
By  carefully  selecting  for  seed  tubers  which  were 
perfectly  sound,  the  “hollow-heartedness”  disap¬ 
peared  in  a  few  seasons.  Since  its  introduction  hollow 
centers  have  again  been  reported  as  occurring  in  the 
Blush.  Indeed  the  larger  tubers,  as  raised  at  the 
Rural  Grounds,  where  they  have  been  used  for  experi¬ 
ment  purposes  for  10  years  or  more,  are  often  hollow. 
We  are  now  selecting  sound  tubers  for  seed,  as  well  as 
those  from  the  most  productive  hills.  Can  “  hollow 
hearts  ”  be  bred  out  by  selecting  sound  seed  tubers  ? 
That  is  the  question  which,  it  seems  to  us,  is  of  enough 
importance  to  engage  the  attention  of  experiment 
station  workers.  The  Blush  in  quality  is  as  nutty  and 
dry  as  ever.  It  yields  well  in  droughty  seasons.  Its 
one  great  drawback  is  its  habit  of  producing  long  tuber 
stems  or  as  it  is  called  straggling  in  the  hill. 
Blue  Neshannock  Seedling.— From  J.  R.  McNary, 
Burgettstown,  Pa.  Six  pieces  yielded  10%  pounds,  of 
which  34  were  large,  22  small.  This  is  at  the  rate  of 
423.50  bushels  to  the  acre.  Mr.  McNary  writes: 
“  Vines  somewhat  like  those  of  R.  N.-Y.  No.  2,  produce 
a  large  quantity  of  seeds.  Will  keep  until  August. 
Moderately  productive.”  Smooth  skin,  few  eyes,  not 
prominent,  pinkish-buff  in  color  ;  oval,  flattened.  A 
handsome  potato  and  a  fine  keeper. 
(To  be  Continued.) 
