896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
831 
varieties of Limas, enough to create a demand for the 
fat and superior sorts. 
The best Lima bean, in point of quality, is Dreer’s 
Improved, and with it may be named Thorburn’s 
Challenger, which resembles the former in all respects 
except in having a shorter pod. These beans, when 
cooked, have the flavor of boiled chestnuts, and are, 
usually, preferred by persons who have noted the 
quality. These are beans of the fat type which are 
generally regarded as of finer quality than the flat 
beans either among the pole or dwarf Limas. How¬ 
ever, Burpee’s Dwarf Lima, which is a true Lima of 
the large, flat type, is often pronounced of the best 
quality. 
I have found it more profitable in this latitude, in 
which October or even September frosts often catch 
Limas in full bearing, to grow the dwarfs, which re¬ 
quire no labor with poles, mature earlier, and can be 
planted closer. It seems, however, that the dwarfs 
are not displacing the pole varieties very rapidly in 
the extensive growing for dried beans, and the use for 
poles still exists in the Eastern States. The dry sum¬ 
mers of California make it possible to plant the beans 
after the last rain in May, then to allow the viDes to 
sprawl over the ground in a 
tangle, because no weeds spring 
up, and no cultivation is needed 
after June 1. In the East, the 
frequent rains necessitate as fre¬ 
quent cultivation, and the pods 
must be kept off the ground ; 
therefore, poles or a trellis can¬ 
not be dispensed with where the 
tall varieties are grown. 
The soil should be warm and 
friable. A critical time in the 
growing of Lima beans is during 
germination. If the soil is a 
firm clay, and a week of cool 
weather follow planting, a very 
small percentage of plants will 
come through. In a loose soil, 
the sun’s warmth will quickly 
penetrate to the seed and cause 
successful germination. I would 
select, first, a warm exposure ; 
second, a dry soil; and third, a 
loose soil, to command the best 
conditions for beans. It might 
be regarded even as a “poor 
soil.” I saw this past summer a 
fine field of beans on a hillside 
in the mountainous peach dis¬ 
trict of western Maryland, where 
the peach soil is proverbially 
poor. These facts about the soil 
do not imply, however, any fu¬ 
tility in fertilizers ; on the con¬ 
trary, the most satisfactory re¬ 
sults from the proper use of 
fertilizers are obtained on such 
soils. If a field is to be enriched 
for Lima beans by the use of 
coarse raw manure, it should be 
done the year previous to plant¬ 
ing, as the immediate use excites 
a rank growth and retards the 
maturing of the beans. If the 
soil is to be fertilized in the year 
of planting, it should be done 
with some quickly available ma¬ 
terial, preferring rather the con¬ 
centrated fertilizers rich in pot¬ 
ash and phosphoric acid instead 
of nitrogen. Well decomposed 
manure may be used by thoroughly mixing a strong 
shovelful in the soil of each hill before planting. 
The poles are usually set four feet apart each way, 
and are from eight to ten feet long. If, however, 
the poles stand six feet high when in place, they 
serve as well as longer poles. It is more profitable 
to be liberal with the beans when planting than to 
have missing hills and naked poles; therefore, it is 
best to plant six to eight beans to each pole, and 
when they have vegetated, leave but three and four 
plants. No importance need be attached to the old 
direction to plant the seed with the eye down. Drop 
good seed and cover according to the condition of the 
soil; not more than one inch in heavy soil or two 
inches in the lightest soil. 
The best time to plant must be decided by each 
planter according to his soil and season. While it is 
necessary to have a long period of growth to mature 
the best crop, there is always loss instead of gain in 
planting before the ground is warm enough to germi¬ 
nate the seed properly. It has already been intimated 
that Lima beans will rot in cold soil. In Pennsyl¬ 
vania and New York, the last week in May is most 
generally chosen ; in New Jersey a week earlier is 
more frequently'chosen. There is a practice of pinch* 
ever raised. The pods often hang in clusters of five 
or six. This variety is among the earliest. The vines 
are exceedingly vigorous and continue in bearing 
until frost. 
Salem Improved Lima. —This is not so early as 
Siebert or King of the Garden, but the pods are much 
larger, sometimes containing as many as six seeds, 
large and flat like those of Siebert. The pods are 
often eight inches long, many of them being perfectly 
straight, others being twisted and curled. It is un¬ 
questionably a very prolific variety. The markets 
near this place prefer small fat pods, and medium¬ 
sized, fat beans. The shape of Dreer’s, we think, is 
liked better than others Flat beans, no matter how 
large, are not popular. Seeds of this bean (see Fig. 274) 
were sent to us by W. H. Maule of Philadelphia, Pa. 
King of the Garden. —The pods of this are more 
uniformly well-shaped than those of Salem Improved, 
averaging about five inches in length, containing 
three to four seeds, which are broad, flat and large. 
The variety is about one week later than Siebert’s. 
On September 1, we noted that, while the several 
kinds were all bearing quantities of pods, those of 
the King of the Garden seemed to fill better than 
those of the others. Seeds re¬ 
ceived from W. A. Burpee of 
Philadelphia, Pa. Fig. 270 shows 
the pods and beans of average 
size. _ 
MANURE IN NEW ENGLAND. 
The neighborhood custom of 
handling manure is variable. So 
far as I am informed, public 
opinion favors spring applica¬ 
tion, yet convenience leads many, 
indeed most, of our farmers to 
apply a material portion in the 
fall. In its application, many 
adhere to the old custom of plow¬ 
ing under from five to seven 
inches deep. On inquiry, I have 
found that the majority of our 
potato growers plow the manure 
under for this crop. Could all of 
the conditions be commanded, 
the farmers would lean towards 
surface application of manure in 
the spring, the manure to be har¬ 
rowed into the ground as deeply 
as the best modern implements 
will do it. A few practice winter 
application, but only to a limited 
extent. Occasionally a farmer is 
found who applies on the grass 
ground in the fall for spring 
plowing, claiming that a larger 
crop results from the practice. 
Personal experience and ex¬ 
perimental inquiry for several 
years lead to a preference for 
spring application of manure, 
and its thorough incorporation 
with the soil by some form of the 
Cutaway harrow. Into this con¬ 
clusion, there have entered some 
theoretical conclusions, drawn, 
however, after the scales had 
taught their lesson. I found in 
plot work in New Hampshire and 
Missouri, that the total effect of 
manure, whether plowed under 
or applied on top, was about the 
same, but that the ratio of seed 
to stem varied by the method of 
applying, and also varied with the season between the 
practice of plowing under and applying on top. As a 
whole, however, manure worked into the surface gave 
more seed and less straw than when turned under. 
When the seed is the end in view, the choice of 
methods is obvious. For hay and grain for the pur¬ 
pose of the hay, the crop is the same so far as personal 
researches show by either method of application. 
Whenever the tendency of water is upward, there is 
a tendency of plant food in a soluble condition in the 
same direction. 
In regard to winter application of manure, I should 
still prefer surface manuring for the reason that 
percolation of water in the spring is the order of 
Nature, and the tendency of manures will, therefore, 
be downward. The further it has to go, the less the 
ratio that is likely to go down and out of the soil. 
Manure applied on the sward will move downwards, 
too, yet when turned under in the spring, will, to a 
greater degree, be removed from the surface and 
nearer the point of percolation. It appears to be 
more subject to loss from the surface by the moving 
surface waters as they run off the field into ravines. 
My system of manuring is governed by business con¬ 
veniences as well as apparent theoretical advantages. 
ing back the ends of the vines when they have 
reached the top of the poles with the thought that, 
in consequence, a larger quantity of beans mature ; 
this is very doubtful, and close observers regard the 
use of the shorter poles as an adequate and, certainly, 
less expensive substitute for the practice of pinching. 
Others tie horizontal cross poles to the uprights at a 
height of five feet, and train the vines over them in 
preference to pinching. Again, we find a preference 
for a trellis instead of poles. This consists of strong 
posts at the ends of each row with good poles in the 
row, at 15 to 20 feet over which are stretched two 
wires ; a strong one at the height of five feet, and a 
light one about six inches above ground. A cotton 
string is stretched from one wire to the other in a 
zigzag fashion, and the seeds are planted in the row 
about six inches apart, leaving plants to grow about 
one foot apart. But the development or selection of 
any method of training the vine in the air is due to 
the fancy of the grower very largely, just as in the 
training of grape vines. 
The yield is a variable quantity, depending upon 
the variety, the adaptability of soil and climate, and 
the success of the planter in his treatment of the 
FULL POD. INSIDE VIEW. 
KING OF THE GARDEN LIMA BEAN. Fig. 
vines In California, where the annual production m 
recent years has been about 12,000 tons, and con¬ 
stitutes almost the entire bulk of the business in 
dried beans, the yield is estimated at 40 bushels per 
acre. Such an average is considerably below the 
ordinary good yield, which, in the East, is often given 
as 150 bushels of green pods, and from (30 to 100 bushels 
of dried beans per acre. [prof.] geo. c. butz. 
State College of Pennsylvania. 
Varieties at the Rural Grounds. 
Our Lima beans were all planted May 6. Only fer¬ 
tilizer (Mapes potato) was used. This was sown broad¬ 
cast at the rate of 1,000 pounds to the acre. About 
six beans were planted to each pole, eyes down, and 
three of the weakest plants destroyed. The poles 
were stuck 3x3 feet apart, and the vines tied to the 
poles as needed with bits of muslin. 
Siebert’s Early. —Of this much-praised variety, 
seed was ordered from D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, 
Mich., and from J. J. H. Gregory & Son, Marblehead, 
Mass. The first “ mess ” was picked August 8. There 
were about three large flat beans to the pod, as shown 
in Fig. 275. The pod is generally well-shaped, and the 
bean is nearly as large as that of any Lima we have 
