io The Colorado Experiment Station 
beans and a somewhat smaller number of pounds for the small pea 
beans. 
For dry land conditions beans should, under normal conditions, 
be planted in rows about 3^2 feet apart and in drills in the row 10 
to 12 inches apart. If dry land conditions are a little severe, or un¬ 
certain, the space can be made a little further in the drills, say from 
12 to 16 inches. According to the rate of drilling, it would take from 
8 to 20 pounds of seed to plant an acre under dry land conditions. For 
an average planting, probably about 15 pounds per acre will be used. 
Where the rows are made 7 feet apart, under very severe conditions, 
the planting should be 6 to 8 inches in the drills. 
Of the many beans planted only a few are put in by plowing shal¬ 
low and dropping the beans in every third or fourth furrow, covering 
the beans by plowing and then packing and harrowing afterwards to 
compact the surface soil over the beans. This is not a good practice, 
but can sometimes be used in very small patches. Where large plant¬ 
ings are made, a bean planter adjusted to plant in exactly the propor¬ 
tion desired, should be used. 
CULTIVATION 
Beans of all varieties are rather shallow-rooted surface feeders. 
Consequently all cultivation after the crop starts should be shallow. 
The most important part of the cultivation should be done in the prep¬ 
aration of a seed bed. Immediate cultivation should commence about 
the time the rows can be seen in the field. Where the stand is extra 
good, beans may sometimes be harrowed a time or two if care is taken 
to do this work when the young vines are perfectly dry. If the soil 
Cultivating - dry land pinto beans in El Paso County 
