GROWING BEANS. 
There is evidently an increasing interest 
in bean culture in all parts of the country. 
The prospective failure of the potato crop 
from the ravages of the beetle, compels at¬ 
tention to the subject of providing some 
substitute, /uid beans are probably as good a 
crop to grow as any. But as “Western 
Farmer” says beans do not do well with him, 
it is possible that the crop may not be suited 
to that section. Hereabouts, farmers find 
that dry lurid, moderately rich, is the best 
for beans, and that the crop rarely does well 
on rich, alluvial soil, which is also generally 
wet. Our Western friends arc always boast¬ 
ing of their deep, rich and mucky soil, often 
five to 20 feet deep. This is not the kind of 
land for beans. The vines grow too ram¬ 
pant and the pods do not “ 1111” well. Then, 
when wet weather comes, the vines are 
washed in the black, mucky soil, and a large 
part of the crop is lost or badly injured. I 
don’t believe the old saying, “The poorer 
the land, the better the beans but it is 
true that the kind of rich soil needed by 
this crop is not tliat of coarse, fermented 
manures or the "fatness” which gross feed¬ 
ers like corn not only enjoy but demand for 
their best results. In some of the New En¬ 
gland States, fair crops, are grown on land 
too poor for anything else, and “ too poor to 
grow white beans,” is a phrase expressing 
the superlative degree of sterility. In West¬ 
ern New York our bean crops are mainly 
grown on only moderately rich land, but it 
must be dry and should not be mucky. A 
year-old clover sod is preferred. This makes 
the soil dry and friable, and its decomposi¬ 
tion furnishes sufficient plant food for the 
crop. No manure is used, though I believe 
that mineral manures (as phosphate) might 
be applied with advantage. This, however, 
is only a theory, which I shall practically 
test the coining season. As beans arc not 
put in till after all danger of frost, the ground 
is left unplowed until corn and potatoes are 
planted, and a considerable growth of young 
clover is thus turned under, which gives ad¬ 
ditional plant food. 
Beans should be planted from the 10th to 
25th of June, in this latitude. To plant much 
earlier would bo before the ground was of 
right warmth ; and if later, the crop might 
not be out of the way of fall rains, which 
are tho worst evil the bean grower has to 
meet. The old-fashioned way was t.o plant 
in hills three feet apart, but that is very 
wasteful of ground if the beans are of the 
small growing varieties. The next improve¬ 
ment ou this was to drill the beans with a 
common drill, closing two tubes out of three 
or three out of four, so as to leave the rows 
wide enough for a horse and cultivator to 
pass between. Oood crops are grown in this 
way, but the beans are left scattering all 
along the row, greatly increasing the labor 
of cultivating and harvesting. The true way 
to plant is in rows 2 to 2feet apart, with 
hills G to 8 inches apart in the rows, 4 to 7 
beans in each hill. The field will then be 
dotted thickly with compact “bunches” of 
beans 4 to 6 in a place, and as they grow 
large, these hills will form a continuous line 
in the rows. A narrow hoe, quickly passed 
between each hill, will clear out every weed 
not taken by the cultivator, and in harvest¬ 
ing, each bunch of beaus can be readily 
grasped by tlic hand instead of having to be 
grabbed one by one in the rows. The advan¬ 
tage of this method of planting is sufficiently 
obvious, even if it has to be done by hand. 
There is, however, a successful ” beau plant¬ 
er” which, with a man and team does this 
work more perfectly than men would be apt 
to do by hand, and at the rate of four to ten 
or more acres per day. Your correspondent 
wants the name and address of the manufac¬ 
turers of these bean planters. Certainly, he 
should have both. The manufacturer should 
put it in the Rural New-Yorker for the 
benefit not only of "Western Farmer,” but 
of hundreds like him. It is, however, none 
of my business, nor is it the Rural’s busi¬ 
ness to do gratuitous advertising of this char¬ 
acter. If you will forward me the address 
of “Western Farmer," I will very gladly 
send him the information he asks about the 
bean planter. This article, however, is only 
to tell about bean growing what all who 
grow beans need to know. It is not an ad¬ 
vertisement of anybody’s manufactures. I 
will, however, say all the good words need¬ 
ful about this bean planter. It not only does 
its work perfectly, but no fanner would 
think of growing beans by the acre or ten 
acres, as many do, without one. Now let the 
manufacturer drop his false modesty and tell 
Rur \.l readers who he is and where he can I 
be addressed. 
Cultivating beans is a very simple matter. 
The crop under a warm June sun is up in five 
or six days after planting, and the rows are 
seen at once clear across a field. Going 
through with a cultivator often enough to 
keep down all weeds, is the main cultivation. 
A freshly-turned clover sod is rarely very 
weedy. Many farmers do not hoe at all, but 
this is slovenly farming. It is much better 
to go through with a hoe and cutoff all weeds 
between t.he hills in the rows. After the 
1 leans grow enough to shade the ground, 
neither hoeing nor cultivation is needed. If 
a few weeds remain, they are easily pulled 
by hand. Keeping the crop free from weeds 
does not generally cost so much as the extra 
expense of pulling and harvesting a weedy 
crop. Good farming here, as in most other 
cases, is the true economy. Care should be 
taken to cultivate beans only in dry weather. 
When the vines are covered with dew or 
raindrops, the earth adheres and injures the 
growth and health of the plant. Get up as 
curly as you choose, but don’t work among 
the beans until the dew is well off the leaves; 
for this reason gypsum is not a good appli¬ 
cation for beans. It makes the vines grow 
too rank anil attracts moisture. On the 
other hand, an hour spent in cultivating corn 
early in the morning, covering the richly 
aminoniated dew with earth and so storing 
it for plant food, is worth two hours’ cultiva¬ 
tion at midday or afternoon, after the dew 
and its ammonia have evaporated. Cultivate 
and hoe corn or cabbage in the early fore¬ 
noon and work among your beans the re¬ 
mainder of the day if you have both crops 
and can make such a division of time and 
labor. 
The true Medium bean is the only variety 
worth growing as a main field crop, except 
in special localities or soils. It is a medium- 
sized, white bean, between the Pea and Mar¬ 
row in size. The plants are dwarf, compact, 
not inclined to vine, and are very heavily 
podded. They also ripen more easily than 
other varieties, which Is a great saving in 
harvesting. The Marrow bean usually brings 
more per bushel; but it is more viny, does 
not ripen evenly, and costs more to harvest. 
The Marrow bean might do well on very poor 
soil; but 1 would rat her make the land a 
little richer and plant the Mediums. High 
prices have been got for small quantities of 
the Wax or Butter bean for seed, a fojv bush¬ 
els sometimes selling to seed dealers for $4 
to 86 a bushel. But there never has been 
and never will be any demaud for this va¬ 
riety except from seed dealers, and it can 
never be made a genera) crop. The Butter 
bean is very hard threshing from the pod. 
Harvesting is the great bug-a-boo in bean 
growing. Unless done at the right time and 
two or three weeks of fair weather follow, 
there is much loss. The vines are pulled by 
going between the rows, grasping the bunch¬ 
es and setting them firmly OU the ridges, two 
rows in one, roots upward. They are left 
thus two or three or more days unless there 
is danger of rain, then stacked in mounds 
with a stake in the center and one row of 
beans all round. The tops are capped, and 
the beans now partly protected from rain, 
are left until thoroughly dried and then taken 
to the barn. A heavy rain, while curing, 
does incalculable damage. The beaus will 
be wet and stained if not partially decayed, 
and for sale, are something worse than 
worthless. A few colored beans spoil the 
looks of the best lot; and if beans are plenty 
and cheap, make them almost unsalable. 
When beans are scarce and dear it makes 
less difference ; but the dealer always de¬ 
ducts more than enough from the price to 
pay for thorough hand-picking. This should 
always be done before the beans are sold. 
Women and boys can do the work cheaply 
through the winter when otherwise there 
would be nothing for them to do. The ex¬ 
tensive grown g of beans is thus a GoD-scnd 
to many poor families. Men, women and 
children often work together pulling beans. 
It is back-aching work, requiring constant 
stooping ; lienee lazy men think it specially 
adapted to boys! “They don’t have so far 
to stoop.” This brutal remark 1 should be 
ashamed to quote here without characteriz¬ 
ing it as it deserves. I will show you “a 
more excellent way.” The fastest bean- 
picker in Western New York is an English¬ 
man—a full-grown, able-bodied man. He 
covers his knees and forelegs with strong 
leather and then walks on his knees between 
the rows, pulling as he goes. In this way ha 
clears two acres a day, and as several of his 
children work with him, he and they often 
make §S or $0 a day. Ordinary men will 
rarely pull an acre a day, for which the con¬ 
tract price is 82.50 per acre. 
Much depends upon marketing beans, as 
may be said of all farm crops. And here it 
behooves “Western Farmer” and all others 
to proceed cautiously. If beans are not grown 
extensively in his vicinity, or have proved a. 
partial failure, it is hardly probable that buy¬ 
ers will gather around him to purchase his 
crop. Generally speaking, the best market 
for such a crop is to be found in the center 
of largest production. The village of Brock- 
port, 17 miles west of Rochester, is the best 
bean market in the United States for selling 
from first hands. The amount of money 
that changes hands here daily during the 
season for selling beans, would astonish men 
who know how near the village is to Roches¬ 
ter, where not a tenth of the bean product is 
purchased. Farmers frequently take beans 
away from Rochester to Brockport because 
they can generally get a few cents a bushel 
more than in the city, even if they can sell 
in the city at any price. 
Unless “Western Farmer” knows that 
beans will succeed well with him, lie had bet¬ 
ter begin cautiously with a limit-ed quantity 
at first. If be does well, ull his neighbors 
will soon know it, and he should get as many 
beans planted in his neighborhood as possi¬ 
ble In order to attract buyers. If be is a 
Patron, he can probably make some arrange¬ 
ment through that organization for finding a 
market. A good many beans will be needed 
any way at the West, whenever, as now, 
potatoes sell at 81 and upwards a bushel. 
Allowing for waste and the large amount of 
water they contain, potatoes are less eco¬ 
nomical food at 81 a bushel than beans would 
be at live times that price. 
The yield of beans varies greatly. Planted 
in rows in hills, as advised, on good soil and 
with a good season, 25 bushels per acre is a 
good crop, though sometimes thirty or more 
bushels are obtained. Three pecks will plant 
an acre. Western New York. 
—-- 
ENGLISH BARLEY. 
Elsewhere we give illustrations (see page 
188} of three varieties of English barley, and 
herewith publish the Agricultural Gazette's 
comments on the same. The attention which 
barley culture is receiving in this country 
warrants us in believing that our readers 
will be interested on tlus subject: 
The- Common, or Early English Barley is 
the one most commonly cultivated through 
the kingdom ; aud although from time to 
time many other varieties have been intro¬ 
duced, it still maintains its position. It is 
suitable for light lands where the practice of 
sheep-folding prevails, and also for a greater 
range of soils than many other varieties ; it 
has the advantage of coming to maturity 
earlier, requiring only from 14 to 1(5 weeks 
to perfect its growth. For light lands of 
inferior descriptions this bai ley appears bet¬ 
ter adapted than any other kind ; and even 
on cold clay soils its early maturity and free 
manner of growing give it a deckled superi¬ 
ority over those varieties, which, although 
of finer quality, are of much slower growth. 
It also works very well in the malthouse 
The Chevalier Barley is a great favorite 
with the maltster, and on good barley land 
answers the farmer’s purpose very well; 
but it is not in every district that so many 
bushels per acre of it can be grown as of the 
coarser varieties. It must be sown rather 
earlier in the season, as it requires a longer 
time to ripen than some of the more common 
sorts. 
The Annat Burley is one obtaining now a 
very wide reputation ; but it has not attained 
the celebrity of the Chevalier for malting 
purposes. It is very productive on sandy 
loams. 
.- - - 
FIELD NOTES. 
Lost Nation Wheat.— C. M. Owen, Osage, 
(no State given,) writes the Rural New- 
Yorker under date of March 3, that one of 
his neighbors brought from Maine, three 
veal’s ago, one bushel of this wheat, sowed 
it on three-fourths of an acre and harvested 
30 bushels wheat of nice quality, weighing 
62 lbs. per bushel. He sold part of his crop 
at $2.50 per bushel, and what he sowed the 
next year produced 30 bushels per acre. Last 
year he sowed 40 acres to it on land that lxad 
had 13 crops from it aud haivested 1,200 
bushels. It is a bald spring wheat, closely 
resembling the Scotch Fife aud ripening 
about the same time. Our correspondent 
adds :—“It is considered the best variety 
grown in this section. This year will test its 
superiority, as there is quite a quantity of it 
sowed here.” 
Peas and Oaks.—Will not some of your cor¬ 
respondents, who have had experience, state 
how peas and oats sowed together answer as 
a soiling crop ; also in what proportion to 
each other the seed should be sown ?—c. R. 
ikej IpitskmtrjT. 
OXFORDSHIRE DOWN SHEEP- 
When these sheep were first produced I 
lived a few miles from those who “ created ” 
them, and I well re member the conversations 
and arguments at markets and Fairs about 
“the cross” proving a permanent success. 
The quotation you give is perfectly correct. 
My object in alluding to these sheep, which 
have now become a favorite breed, is to say 
that then, as now, there was a great aversion 
to crossing, and the general opinion was that 
such a direct cross could not be successful in 
establishing any uniformity: nevertheless 
it. has been done, and w-hat. would seem to 
those who object to crossing, it is more re¬ 
markable because tho Hampshire Down was 
also a cross-breed which had, contrary to 
predictions, proved a fixed type, aud was used 
in a few years in tho production of a second 
instance of what good judgement can do. 
The Cots wold-?, too, were brought to their 
state of perfection by what was termed 
dashes of blood from other breeds—the Lei¬ 
cester, to wit; and these last mentioned 
were made by “ Bakewell,” in the first, place, 
to attract admiration, &c., by skill in select¬ 
ing animals from other llocks to produce the 
desired characteristics in his own sheep. 
In reply to P. G.:—As sheep vary so much 
as to size, and land does the same, as stated 
hy p. G., the best way is to consider how 
many cows the pasture would carry and 
then allow seven sheep, more or less, accord¬ 
ing to circumstances, for each cow. 
A Working Farmer. 
--*-*■•*•- 
FEEDING SHEEP SULPHUR AND 
COPPERAS. 
I would like to know, from person of ex¬ 
perience, something in regard to feeding sul¬ 
phur to sheep. My partner and I are win¬ 
tering about six hundred head ; some of tliom 
have a light scald between their their toes, 
caused lrom running on wet ground. We 
commenced about, tho 1st of Feb. to feed 
them 60 pounds of sulphur and copperas—45 
of sulphur and 15 of copperas. This amount 
we intend to feed to them, say in three 
months. Now I want to know if this will 
have any effect on the disease l If not what 
will, anil also is there any danger of feeding 
too much sulphur so as to injure the health 
of the sheep or make them cast their wool ? 
Any information on this subject will be 
thankfully received. Joseph Binsley. 
Columbiana Co., Ohio. 
If you mean by “ a light scald between 
their toes ” that the skin in the cleft of the 
foot is simply inflamed and sore, we cannot 
see of what earthly use feeding sulphur and 
copperas will be. Indeed we should not feed 
it any way for any foot-disease we ever 
knew or heard of. Yon should remove your 
sheep to a dry yard or pasture at once and 
daub the inflamed portion of the hoof, after 
cleansing it, with tar; or wash it with a mild 
solution of blue vitriol; or apply spirits of 
turpentine. We advise you not to feed sul¬ 
phur and copperas as you propose. If any 
shepherd disagrees with us, we shall be glad 
to have them say so and give his reasons. 
—- ♦♦♦ -- 
SHEPHERD NOTES. 
Most Profitable Sheep for Wool Bearing.— 
In answer to a correspondent’s inquiry, the 
Prairie Farmer says In the present state 
of the wool market, with reference to the 
manufacturers’ demand, the most profitable 
flocks for wool bearing are made up by 
crossing the Merino on one of the Long- 
Wool breeds. The pure Cotswold or Leices¬ 
ter is a little coarser in fiber than is now 
required for the grades of luster goods 
most largely made. In fact, there is a cloud 
over manufactures into which combing wool 
entei-s, so that the raw material of that class 
generally feels the depression. Still the de¬ 
laine wools selected from about an even 
cross of the breeds mentioned, are compara¬ 
tively high. 
The Angora Goat Business.— The United 
States Economist says “ It was a sad mis¬ 
take for the farmers of California, if not 
Kentucky and Teunessee, when they went 
into the Alpaca goat business. Far better 
would it be if they had started right, and im¬ 
ported some good sheep instead. For at a 
rough calculation we must have some eighty 
thousand of these animals In the country, 
and yet there is not a mill within our bor¬ 
ders that has any fine machinery capable of 
turning the product of these animals into 
cloth.” 
Sheep Losing Their I Fool—(P. T.) If your 
sheep are losing tlieir wool at the rate you 
speak of, it is probably because they are 
afflicted with scab. See remedies heretofore 
given in this journal. 
