626 
The  Castor-Oil  Bean. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I   December,  1895. 
easily  destroyed  by  frost  as  our  common  bean,  and,  therefore,  plant- 
ing should  be  delayed  till  after  the  1st  of  April. 
AFTER- CULTURE. 
The  cultivation  of  the  plants  consists  in  destroying  the  weeds  and 
grass,  and  keeping  the  soil  open  and  mellow.  These  objects  are 
chiefly  attained  by  using  the  horse  and  cultivator,  or  small  plow, 
working  between  the  rows  both  ways.  It  is  also  necessary  to  work 
among  the  plants  with  hoes,  going  over  them  two  or  three  times, 
cutting  the  weeds  away  from  the  plants  that  cannot  be  reached  with 
the  plow  or  cultivator,  and  drawing  a  little  mellow  earth  to  the 
plants,  gradually  reducing  the  number  to  one  plant  in  the  hill, 
though  two  are  occasionally  left.  One  strong,  vigorous  plant,  how- 
ever, will  produce  better  seed  than  two  in  the  same  hill,  and  as  great 
a  quantity  of  beans.  After  the  plant  is  2  feet  high  it  is  capable  of 
taking  care  of  itself,  and  grows  rapidly.  After  heavy  rains,  however^ 
it  is  still  advisable  to  work  between  the  rows  with  the  horse  culti- 
vator, breaking  up  the  crust  that  has  Jormed  on  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  opening  and  loosening  the  soil  to  derive  a  greater 
benefit  from  the  atmosphere.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  cultivation  is 
as  simple  as  that  of  corn  or  of  the  common  bean. 
HARVESTING  THE  CROP. 
About  the  first  day  of  July  the  beans  begin  to  ripen.  They  are 
produced  in  pods  or  husks,  on  spikes  of  various  lengths,  and  should 
be  gathered  as  soon  as  the  pods  begin  to  turn  brown,  to  prevent 
loss  by  their  popping  out  on  the  field,  as  beans,  when  ripe,  pop  or 
burst  from  the  pod  quite  a  distance.  They  are  gathered  by  cutting 
off  the  entire  spike.  Each  plant  has  a  number  of  these,  and  they 
are  produced  and  ripen  in  succession  till  frost.  Of  course,  only 
those  exhibiting  brown  pods  should  be  cut.  These  spikes  are  then 
thrown  into  a  wagon  or  on  a  slide,  passing  through  the  broad  rows, 
and  hauled  away  to  the 
DRY  YARD, 
which  is  made  on  a  piece  of  land  near  the  bean  fields,  sloping  to  the 
south,  so  as  to  get  as  much  heat  as  possible  from  the  sun  to  ripen 
the  beans  and  cause  them  to  burst  from  the  husks.  Cut  off  the 
sod,  then  roll  the  ground  down  hard,  and  make  a  fence  around  the 
yard  by  placing  boards  up  against  rails  laid  on  crotched  sticks  or 
posts ;  though  the  fence  is  not  necessary  if  the  yard  is  made  large 
