1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
459 
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT BEANS. 
One of mu- readers in Pennsylvania, about tlie latitude of 
Philadelphia, asks us some questions about bean glowing. He 
wishes to know what would probably be the latest date ad¬ 
visable to plant beans in his latitude, and whether the pea 
beans are more profitable, in the long run, than the larger 
sorts. What do you consider a fair yield under favorable 
conditions? lie wishes to know wiiether the continued cul¬ 
ture of beans with a fair amount of fertilizers added will 
show increased fertility of the land. We all know beans 
are of the class of clover and Alfalfa, which are supposed 
to bring nitrogen to the soil. In this view of the case the 
land ought to get stronger as cropping goes on. In your 
case does* this prove to be true, and what you consider a 
fair expense for growing and harvesting an acre of beans? 
Beans here in western New York are planted up 
to about June 10* though a week or 10 days earlier is 
though better, as those planted earlier are less likely 
to be diseased. In comparison with other crops, 
bean planting immediately follows corn planting. 
More Mediums than any other are grown, but if 
the ground is rich and good care is given Red 
Kidneys one 'year with another will pay best, but 
the price of these is extremely variable, sometimes 
very high and then very low, though usually higher 
than any other kind. 1 notice the quotations now 
are Red Kidneys, $2.90; Marrows, $2.20; Pea and 
Mediums, $1.50 per bushel in New York. Red 
Kidneys yield all the way from 10 to 30 -bushels 
per acre, depending upon soil, season and culti¬ 
vation; a wide margin, but fully within reality. 
In regard to the question of how much beans 
exhaust the fertility of the soil, 20 bushels of beans 
Would take from the soil 52.4 pounds nitrogen, 10 
pounds phosphoric acid, and 10.5 pounds potash in 
the grain; the vines and pods probably one-fourth 
as much nitrogen and more than twice as much 
potash, but very little phosphoric acid. Thus it 
will be seen that if the beans are able to get all 
the nitrogen needed from the air, still they ate 
very exhausting to the phosphoric acid and potash, 
especially so of the potash if the vines and pods 
are taken off and sold or wasted. Notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that beans belong to the nitrogen 
gatherers, they have a very small root growth, and 
I doubt the ability of continuing to grow them even 
though furnished an abundance of potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid; no one to my knowledge has ever tried the 
experiment. 
They are usually grown in rotation with clover, pas¬ 
ture, corn, beans, wheat, and clover again, sometimes 
clover, pasture, beans, potatoes, wheat, and I have 
never known beans to follow beans. The worst feature 
in growing beans is the fact that they usually leave the 
land very foul. The fact is the bean crop is seldom 
hoed, and weeds arc very apt to increase greatly in the 
bean year. Aside from rent of land and cost of 
fertilizers I think about six or seven dollars a fair esti¬ 
mate of the expense of a crop of beans. I would con¬ 
sider a ton of bean vines and pods for any stock except 
horses of more value than same amount of the best 
Timothy hay. j. s. woodward. 
I dislike to give advice in latitude of 
country that I am not acquainted with. 
I think I would try the Pea bean and 
would plant not later than the first to 15th 
of June. Beans will stand lots of manure 
and fertilizers. I do not think the land 
will grow better from growing beans. If 
the beans are planted in season and kept 
clean and well cultivated, the ground is 
in good tilth for Winter wheat and the 
wheat can be planted without plowing the 
ground, mostly by cultivator. The cost 
per acre would be all told for beans about 
$10 per acre. albert wood. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
It would be safe to plant beans any 
time during the month of June in the lati¬ 
tude of Philadelphia. I consider Pea 
beans the most profitable sort, unless it 
is land especially adapted for Red Kidneys 
or White Marrows. I question if con¬ 
tinued cultivation of beans increases the 
fertility of the land. Our experience has 
been that beans are very hard on land, 
and should be grown only in rotation. 
'I he expense of growing and harvesting 
an acre of beans is but very little more 
than that for growing and harvesting an 
acre of wheat. Of course if unfavorable weather pre¬ 
vails at time of harvesting, the expense may he doubled, 
but the average cost is ten or twelve dollars per acre. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. edward e. dibble. 
June 15 would be as late as it would be advisable to 
plant beans in the vicinity of Philadelphia. The Pea 
beans will bring better returns on poor soil, but the 
large beans, such as Marrowfat, Kidney, both Red and 
White, will pay better than the Pea beans on good 
soil. Twenty-five bushels per acre is considered a good 
yield under favorable conditions. Most fields in west¬ 
ern New York will average less than 15 bushels. When 
you stop to think that in harvesting a crop of beans you 
remove from the ground both root and branch of the 
plant, how is it possible to add to the fertility of the 
soil any more than to the extent of the fertility con¬ 
tained in the leaves that arc scattered on the ground in 
harvesting? For this reason I consider beans the most 
exhaustive crop that can be grown on any soil. In 
fact, I do not believe that anyone can grow beans of 
any kind, at a profit, at the present market prices and 
the high price of labor. It is easier to grow wheat at 
a profit when the market price is 75 cents per bushel 
(and wc all know that is impossible in western New 
York), than it is to attempt to grow beans at the pre¬ 
vailing prices. The actual cost of growing and harvest¬ 
ing an acre of beans will vary from $1‘.) to $25. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. s. w. vvadhams. 
A GOOD LATE-KEEPING APPLE. Fig. 219. 
See Rural isms, Page 462. 
Farmers in this vicinity generally begin planting 
beans about May 25, and try to finish by June 25, the 
first 10 days of June being considered the most desir¬ 
able time to plant beans. Occasionally the farmer 
plants beans as late as the Fourth of July, but this is 
exceptional, and requires a favorable Fall in order to be 
successful. Farmers generally prefer Pea beans to 
the larger varieties, as evidenced by the fact that there 
are several times as many Pea beans grown as all other 
varieties combined. We expect, however, that your in¬ 
quirer will be troubled with the Bean weevil which is 
so destructive in southern Indiana, Ohio and Pennsyl¬ 
vania. Very few farmers are willing to plant twice in 
succession on the same ground, and those who are suf¬ 
ficiently indiscreet to plant three crops in succession 
CASTOR BEAN BOULEVARD, NORTH DAKOTA. Fig. 220. 
generally find it very unprofitable. There is no ques¬ 
tion but that the sowing of peas puts the necessary bac¬ 
teria into the soil to produce good wheat crops, but 
we do not find anything like an equal amount of benefit 
resulting from the planting of beans. Surely beans 
after beans would soon exhaust the soil, although wheat 
after beans frequently gives a good crop. The success¬ 
ful farmers are those who raise clover and plow it 
under the second year, instead of waiting for the clover 
to die out and then plow Timothy. We have seen 
very few crops following Alfalfa, for most farmers who 
have a field of Alfalfa think too much of it to plow it 
under, but the few who have done so have found all 
land greatly benefited by the Alfalfa. We generally 
consider the cost of a crop of beans as follows: Rent of 
land or interest and taxes on land $5 to $10, according 
to circumstances; plowing, fitting and planting $6; cul¬ 
tivating, $2; harvesting with bean harvester, $1; 
hauling to barn, $1 to $2; thrashing, $1 to $2, according 
to the yield, which makes the cost from $16 to $22 per 
acre. The average yield of Pea beans is 12 to 20 
bushels, sometimes 25 and occasionally 30. 
Genesee Co., N. Y. n. b. keeney & son. 
WHY SHOULD FARMERS MOVE? 
“A Problem in Home Seeking,” page 393, is one that 
sooner or later comes to everyone. The majority set¬ 
tle near home, and being accustomed to the prevailing 
conditions are more content than they would be at 
a distance from friends and their birthplace. My 
first thought is, why does B. of Illinois wish to 
go anywhere? A man who receives an average in¬ 
come of $4 per day every day in the year and only 
30 acres to work, is so much better off than the 
majority that he should be content There is no 
more profit in larger incomes if the risk and ex¬ 
penses take all the surplus, and the work and 
worry is much greater. I would not trade the 30 
acres for the 200 in Tennessee and try to farm 
with the laborers of that section, nor would I trade 
for 100 acres of land in Connecticut that after de¬ 
ducting the surface covered by stone has less area 
than his present location. If he goes to either, in 
my opinion, he will soon be homesick for his “beau¬ 
tiful fruit farm”. The idea that there is something 
wrong with the land need not be feared. The 
trouble in Tompkins County is that there is more 
land than is needed. In fact one-third of New 
York State is unimproved, and the improved is 
not half worked for lack of men. There are 
plenty of farms that are better every way than in 
either of the two sections mentioned, that can be 
purchased for less than the improvements on them 
cost, that are easier to work, and have local mar¬ 
kets for their products. The improvements are 
not more than the farms require either. The fol¬ 
lowing statement made me yesterday tells the story. 
“I have $3,000 in the bank drawing only three per cent, 
and if I could get anyone to work it, I would buy that 
farm but what is the use? It would lie idle.” 
1 he causes of the scarcity of labor here are: 1. No 
children in farmers’ families. 2. Unexampled prosper¬ 
ity; the poorest receive such large wages and work so 
few hours, that they do not have to work but two days 
of eight hours each per week to live. 3. The demand at 
higher wages than agriculture can pay, for men to work 
for trolley and telephone construction. 4. The entire 
absence of foreigners, in the country. Among my neigh¬ 
bors are men eighty years old, men crippled with rheum¬ 
atism, boys under school age, and plenty of women, all 
trying to get in a few crops, and save from waste what 
the> have. There is an almost absolute 
standstill in building, clearing and im¬ 
proving or ditching land. The price of 
farm products was never better and land 
cheaper, right here where almost every 
known crop can be grown; spring water 
is abundant and the climate the healthiest 
in the world. Why will people settle 
right close up to the mouth of a volcano, 
on mud so soft earthquakes shake down 
the houses, on a stone pile, or among 
people 80 per cent of which would not 
be congenial neighbors, when they have 
the “Garden of Eden” without the snake, 
at their feet? There is a big, fat wood¬ 
chuck that lives in a luxuriant meadow, 
within sight of my home. Another one 
lives on the top of a barren knoll, and 
“grubs” most of the time to get enough to 
eat. He has to go some way from his 
hole, and run the risk of getting shot, to 
find enough to eat, and has had nothing 
but dew to drink for a month at a time, 
lie is thin and poor. Why doesn’t he 
move down in the valley into peace and 
plenty as the fat one did? Why should 
the fat one move—which are you? To 
move or not to move is a serious question, 
which should only be decided after care¬ 
ful consideration. c. E. chapman. 
New York. 
The North Dakota Experiment Station has put up a 
small still for manufacturing alcohol. A stove or heater 
is also in use. Experiments will be made in manufac¬ 
turing alcohol from frosted wheat, screenings and other 
cheap farm products. We shall know in time what it 
costs to make the alcohol and how it compares in fuel 
power with wood and coal. This is a great question 
for the great Northwest. There is no available fuel. 
Hard coal must be shipped from the East and sold at 
high prices, while there is an immense demand for 
gasoline for power engines. Here is a great work for 
the western experiment stations. » 
