Vlgstable Growing in Colorado. 7 
Beans planted this way will produce larger yields than when planted 
in hills eighteen inches or more apart. Plant the seed not more 
than two inches deep, and one and a half inches is better. 
Shallow cultivation should be given frequently during the 
growing period of the crop. 
Planting and Cultivation of Lima Beans. —Lima beans require 
a longer season for maturing than snap beans, and, since they are 
more tender, should be planted a few days later. The usual method 
is to plant four or five seed in hills, eighteen to thirty-six inches 
apart, with the rows about three and a half feet apart. After dan¬ 
ger from cold and insect enemies is past, they are thinned to three 
plants in a hill. Shallow cultivation is given and a trellis of some 
kind is usually provided for the pole varieties. Beans should not 
be cultivated when the plants are wet from dew or rain, as this 
may cause the plants to become diseased. 
As with most all vegetables, the soil for beans should be well 
fertilized, but a fertilizer containing high percentages of potash 
and phosphoric acid and a low percentage of nitrogen may be used 
to advantage, since beans are nitrogen gatherers. 
BEETS. 
There are four distinct types of beets : (1) The ordinary gar¬ 
den beet; (2) Swiss chard, the so-called leaf beet; (3) the sugar 
beet; (4) the mang-el, or stock beet. Vegetable growers are con¬ 
cerned only with the first two. 
The Soil and Its Preparation. —A rich sandy loamy soil is 
best adapted to beets. If a very early crop is desired, the land 
should be deeply and thoroughly plowed in the fall. The ground 
should be broken eight to twelve inches deep, so that the root sys¬ 
tem will not be restricted. 
Planting. —Because of the roughness and irregularity of beet 
seed, they are handled with difficulty by the various seed drills, but 
on a large scale they must be handled by machines. Some modifi¬ 
cations of the ordinary seed drill enable this to be done. The seed 
should be sown three-fourths to one inch deep, and where the crop 
can best be harvested all at one time, the plants should be thinned 
to stand from three to six inches apart in the rows, which are made 
eighteen to twenty-four inches apart. For the home or local mar¬ 
ket garden it may not be necessary to thin the plants, but allow 
the largest ones to reach marketable size, say one and a half to two 
inches in diameter, when they are removed to make room for the 
others. Since the beet is a relatively hardy plant, the seed may be 
planted about the same time as radishes or lettuce. 
Cultivation. —Beets should never be allowed to become 
