THE RURAL WEW-YOSIKEB. 
FES. 41 
sandy nature, since on heavy clay soils it is 
more apt to inn to vines. If ^>ne has a choice 
in the matter, lie will find that it will be to 
his advantage to select a piece of sod and 
after manuring it w ith, say, 15 or 20 loads to 
the acre, turn it over some little time before 
planting so that all weeds which may spring 
up may be killed by the cultivator ami harrow. 
After plowing, some recommend the use of the 
roller, after which the cultivator should be 
put in and run with the plow-furrows so as 
not to turn up the sod. A good pulveriza¬ 
tion of the soil before planting will be a de¬ 
cided advantage to this as well as to almost 
any crop. 
Planting and Cultivating. 
Beans are frequently planted in the hills 
with corn and when this is done they are of 
course subject to the same cultivation as the 
corn. But we now speak of beans as a field 
crop of themselves. Whether the hill or drill 
system is followed in planting is optional. 
Good crops can l>e obtained from good soil 
either way. Row's should be about three feet 
apart, and the hills one and a half to two 
feet apart in the row. Drills should be about 
the same distance apart as the rows, but the 
plants should not stand too thick in the drills. 
After the plants are nicely up the cultivator 
should bo .started and the soil kept loose and 
free from w'eeds about the young plants ; after 
hoeing about two weeks or so run the cultiva¬ 
tor through again and keep them well tilled 
until time for blossoming. They should not 
be planted until all danger from frost is over 
in the Spring and they should be harvested 
before frost comes in the Fall. The rains of 
Autumn are unfavorable to nice color in the 
bean. 
Harvesting. 
j£ Probably but few of our readers care to go 
to the expense of purchasing machines for 
pulling beans, though where a large number 
of acres are devoted to this crop it is frequently 
desirable to gather them in the shortest pos¬ 
sible time. Hand-pulliug is the method gen¬ 
erally pursued. The vines may be thrown m 
windrows when they may be easily shaken 
out until dry and then drawn to the mow or 
stack or to the thrashing floor. They can be 
kept in good condition out in the field if put 
up in small stacks around stakes driven into 
the ground. If the vines are at all green 
stacking in this way should be resorted to. 
When large stacks are made at the barn, 
some advise the use of a barrel, around 
the soil as compared with a crop of corn may 
be seen from the following table which we 
compile from figu res before us. 
Corn (40 Bushels.) 
Constituents removed. Amount. 
Potash .. 47.48 pounds. 
Phosphoric Acid. 28.90 “ 
Nitrogen. 48.00 “ 
Beans (20 Bushels.) 
Potnsh.. .. 48.fi2 pounds. 
Phosphoric Acid.21.48 
Nitrogen. 65.29 " 
The stalks and vines are reckoned in with 
the above numbered bushels. It appears then 
that 20 bushels of beans will extract from 
the soil more potash and nitrogen than 40 
bushels of com, and this being true the farm¬ 
er must not forget to supply for the following 
crop what the bean crop takes away. 
THE GIANT COW PARSNIP- 
At a glance most of our readers will 
recognize the plant represented in the illus¬ 
tration Fig, 45, as a Cow-parsnip or “Master- 
wort.” Far be it from us to recommend it as 
a choice garden plant, but when in the fresh¬ 
ness of its growth and bloom in June, it is a 
bold and handsome ornament. Planted in 
damp ground by the side of a wood or near 
the edge of a stream or lake, it seems at home 
and presents a fine effect. Indeed, it is one of 
the many vigorous plants that we could use 
to good advantage in ravines and semi-wild 
places. Botanically, these Cow-parsnips are 
known as Heracleum, and are umbelliferous 
plants; that is, they belong to the same order 
of plants as carrots, parsnips, myrrh, lovage, 
fennel and parsley do. Our common wild 
species, which grows in damp, rich ground, is 
called H. lanatum, because of the woolliness 
of its herbage, and although it often attains 
a hight of eight feet, it is completely eclipsed 
in size by its Siberian congener, H. giganteum, 
the Giant Cow parsnip, shown in the illustra¬ 
tion, and which often reaches a hight of ten 
feet atul more. We grow seven distinct 
species of them in our garden, and when they 
are in bloom they have a most commanding 
look—so tall, so stout, so many ample leaves 
and such enormous heads of white, greenish- 
white and yellowish-white flowers. They are 
in bloom from the second week in June till 
the first week in July. After they have done 
blooming for tidiness’ sake we cut off their 
spent flower-heads, and from time to time re¬ 
mote the decaying leaves, for after blooming 
they get shabby. 
The Giant Cow-farskif. After Robinson’s Wild Garden.—Fig. 45. 
lie, hut almost invariably they are only rub¬ 
bish compared with their beautiful parents 
But some pretty hybrids have been secured 
between the golden and Rocky Mountain blue 
Columbines, whoso flowers are blue with yel¬ 
low centers. 
When growing near each other in the gar¬ 
den Columbines mix beyond recognition; that 
Is, the seedlings raised from them are neither 
the one species nor the other, mid always in¬ 
ferior t.o their parents. But blue Columbines 
do not mix voluntarily with those that are 
red or yellow, but the three sections seem to 
keep to themselves and therein mix most con¬ 
fusedly. 
For general garden use all of the varieties 
of the common Columbine, the Californian, 
Mexican and golden Columbines are th best, 
and where a cozy, sheltered (but not shaded 
ov t head) nook can be spared all the others 
menti mod above may be grown. Around the 
old plants in ttie Fall, seedlings appear in 
quantity, and these lifted and transplanted 
into boxes, cold frames or mellow soil any¬ 
where, make nice blooming plants for the suc¬ 
ceeding year; or seeds may be sown at any 
timo. Seedlings seldom bloom in the year 
when they are sown, and are at their best 
when two years eld. Columbines may also 
be increased by division, and in cultivation 
this is the only reliable method whereby we 
can perpetuate the parent species, that is, if 
wo have other Columbines of the same color 
in the garden. But no matter how many red, 
bine and purple Columbines we may possess, 
they will not contaminate the golden Colum¬ 
bine, nor will yellow or blue affect red, nor 
yellow or red have an influence on bine. 
Columbines like good, well-drained soil and 
are highl y impatient of wet about their necks. 
Although true perennials, I find they are best 
treated as biennials or triennials. 
CALIFORNIAN LILIES. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Mr. Parnell (page 2) asks about the culti¬ 
vation of the Californian Lilies, more espe¬ 
cially about L. Washingtonianum. Of the Cali¬ 
fornian Lilies I grow Washingtonianum, rubes- 
cens, Parryi, Humbokltii, pardalinum, parvum 
and Columbiannm, and am well enough satis¬ 
fied with the results so far. My main Lily bed is 
on a level piece of ground sheltered on thenorth 
and west sides by a belt of trees and bushes, 
but open on the south side and mostly so on 
the east side The soil is stiff clay, deeply 
worked and moderated by a heavy addition 
of sharp sand, thoroughly decomposed peat- 
muck, earthy manure, leaf soil and screened 
earth from the rubbish heap. The bulbs were 
planted 12 to 1-1 inches deep. The ground is 
not as well drained as it should lie. Inlhe 
Winter time I apply a heavy mulching of tree 
leaves and in the Summer time crop the 
ground with Petunias, Drummond Phlox and 
other dowel's, not so much for their own sakes 
as to act as a mulching to the Lily roots against 
the strong sunshine and drying winds. In 
this bed Washingtonianum, Parryi and par¬ 
vum do splendidly; the others do better 
among the Rhododendn »ns, Kalmias and Aza¬ 
leas, as other Lilies usually do. Columbianum, 
so far, I have confined to frame culture, be¬ 
cause I had not stock enough of it to risk out¬ 
side; but last Fall a Washington friend hav¬ 
ing presented me with a dozen bulbs, I am 
now in a position to lot them rough it. 
My best results obtained with Washingtoni- 
anum have been in a sheltered corner on a 
rockery facing northeast, ami where the soil 
is a deep, free loam enriched with ear¬ 
thy manure and leaf soil, but no muck- 
peat. There I got 15 blooms on one 
stem; in the main Lily bed only seven 
blooms to a stem. Parvum, although a small 
flower, has increased in strength yearly; par- 
dalinmn and Huniboldtii are noble Lilies 
where they do well; rubeseens is what used to 
be known as Washingtonianum purpureum; 
and Parryi i 4 a splendid addition; its blossoms 
are clear, bright yellow, and fragrant. Now, 
Ido not consider my conditions advantageous 
ones for these Californian Lilies. I should 
prefer a more open and friable loam and bet¬ 
ter drainage; warmth, shelter, and a home 
among low growing bushes, too, I should rec¬ 
ommend. But Mr. Parnell is not alone in his 
experience with the Californian Lilies; many 
growers, after having coaxed them for years 
in vain, have at last discarded them. In oth¬ 
er cases these Lilies have grown satisfactorily 
for a few years and then gone back unac¬ 
countably and irrecoverably. 
BEANS AS A FIELD CROP. 
Soil and its Preparation. 
The theory that beans will grow on any 
soil ami produce well, is good as a theory, but, 
when put into practice, often fails. The soil best 
adapted to the bean is of a light, warm or 
which to stack. The barrel may be drawn 
up as fast as the stack advances, which leaves 
a place for the air to circulate. We have al¬ 
ways found it advisable to let the vines get 
as dry as necessary out-of-doors and then 
thrash them as they are drawn to the barn. 
Effects on the Soil. 
Whoever “ makes a business” of raising 
beans as a field crop should remember that 
they are very exhausting to the soil and that, 
therefore, the plant food removed by the 
crop should be restored by the use of proper 
fertilizers. The effect of a crop of beans on 
They are hardy perennials and may be in¬ 
creased by division of their crowns in early 
Spring, or you may raise them from seeds, 
providing the seeds are sown as soon as ripe. 
Fennel, Teasel, Sunflowers, Compass-plant, 
Joe-pie Weed, Iron-weeds; and such other 
rank-growing but otherwise showy plants may 
be reckoned good companions for the Cow- 
parsnip for landscape effect, but they are not. 
The moment you middle it up with other 
rank growers you mar its appearance. Plan¬ 
tain Lilies, Foxgloves, Butterfly-weeds, Creep¬ 
ing Milk-weed (Euphorbia corollata), and 
many other plants that are showy, easy to 
grow and low in stature should be its proper 
companions. 
DtUU) 
THE DAIRY COW. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Difficulties in Milking. 
The principal difficulties in milking consist 
of holding up the milk, hard milking, leaking 
of the milk, and spattering of the milk. The 
first is the most troublesome, because it is a 
sort of intangible trouble arising out of the 
w’ilfulness of the cow, which is very difficult 
to deal with. It is usually first noticed at the 
time when the o$lf has been taken from the 
cow after having been permitted to suck. In 
the writer’s dairy not a single calf has ever 
been permitted to suck its dam, and file cow's 
that have been thus trained from birth have 
never exhibited any desire to let their calves 
suck. The cow is removed, a few days before 
her time is expired, to a secluded building 
where there are all the neeessrry conveniences 
provided for her safety and comfort, in a 
roomy, loose stall. Here she is closely watch 
ed, and when the calf is soon expected atten 
lion is given so that, as soon as the cow has 
dried it, the calf is picked up and carried 
away to a pen out of sight and hearing cf the 
cow. The cow is then fastened up by her 
neck-strap to a ring in the trough, in the usual 
manner, for reasons that need not be pnj tieu- 
larized. A slop of scalded bran is then given 
warm to the cow and she is left alone for sev¬ 
eral hours. By that time she has become quiet 
and her nervousness has gone. The pail is then 
brought in, and she is milked. If she should 
try to hold up her milk for the calf no harm 
is done at this time, because the flow of milk 
has not come; but it has never occurred to the 
writer, in many years’ experience with cows, 
that a heifer with her first c«lf, and that has 
not herself sucked her dam, has ever refused 
to let her milk down at the first milking, so 
that it is pretty certuin that a habit of hold¬ 
ing up the milk, which some cows occasion¬ 
ally have, is due at first to want of proper 
training. But it is easier to point out a rea¬ 
son for a thing than to give a remedy ; and a 
remedy for this difficulty is not always to be 
found, although many have been suggested by 
persons wlio have found them effecti ve in their 
own cases. 
The most popular remedy is to lay a w'eight 
across the loins, such as a heavy chain or a 
bag with sand in it. There is some rational 
plausibility in the remedy, for the following 
reasons:—The nerves which control the whole 
muscular system of the hind-quarters, and the 
digestive, urinary, generative and lacteal or¬ 
gans and their functions, proceed from the 
spinal marrow near the lumbar regions. A 
pressure, then, upon the loins will necessarily 
have some effect upon this portion of the 
nervous system, and may quite possibly, and 
perhaps probably, interfere with the ability 
of the cow to control the voluntary muscles of 
the udder. If one will carefully note the ac¬ 
tion of a cow holding up her milk, he will be 
able to observe how she will draw up the 
udder in such a way as to contract the out¬ 
lets of the milk ducts. If, then, by any means 
the cow can be prevented from exercising the 
power to interfere with the flow of milk, her 
attempt can lie counteracted. 
Another remedy is to distract the attention 
of the cow from her milking by some enticing 
food, and it is frequently found that to give 
her a pailful of warm bran or meal slop when 
she is to be milked will induce her to let the 
milk flow. But the most effective method of 
overcoming the cow is to use the milking 
tubes. These, when inserted i ito the teats, 
pass into the large milk reservoir above the 
base of the teat and draw' off the milk in spite 
of the cow’s efforts to retain it. It has also 
been found effective to refrain from milking 
the cow until the udder has become painful 
from the retention of the milk, when she is 
very willing to be relieved. 
Patience is also a virtue in this respect, and 
if the milker will stay and tire out the cow, 
waiting aud continuing to rub the udder and 
draw upon the teats for a considerable time, 
the milk will come in the end. But one 
should never lose his temper or become impa¬ 
tient in such a case as this. To irritate the 
cow will make matters worse. A cow that 
exhibits affection and regal’d for her owner 
will rarely give any trouble in this or any 
other way, aud it is a case in which it will 
be found very convenient to bo on friendly 
terms with the animal, as, indeed, every 
owner of a cow ought to be. A hard milker 
is usually a good cow, and deserves to be 
treated patiently. This difficulty arises from 
a stricture of the sphincter muscle or a want 
of capacity of the duct of the leat. Either 
of these can only be remedied by mechanical 
means. The insertion of a silver milking 
