Am.  Jour.  Pharni.") 
December,  1895.  / 
The  Cast  or -Oil  Bean. 
627 
enough  to  leave  a  space  outside  the  beans  of  12  or  15  feet,  as 
many  of  the  beans  will  pop  that  distance,  and  if  the  fence  is  not 
built,  or  the  space  left,  many  of  the  beans  will  be  lost  in  the  grass 
or  field  beyond  the  yard. 
The  spikes  are  occasionally  turned  over  and  exposed  to  the  sun, 
until  all  the  seeds  have  left  the  husks,  when  the  old  spikes  are 
taken  away  and  a  new  supply  added.  The  same  process  is  gone 
through  with  the  entire  crop.  Great  care  should  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  beans  getting  wet.  Dirty  beans  command  much  less 
price,  and  sprouted  beans  are  nearly  worthless.  When  rain  is 
anticipated,  rake  the  spikes  into  a  heap  and  cover  them  with  straw, 
plank  or  tarpaulins ;  sweep  the  beans  up,  clean  them  with  a  fanning 
mill,  and  store  in  a  dry  place.  Do  not  attempt  to  pop  them  out  in 
pops  over  the  fire,  as  it  renders  them  almost  worthless. 
BOARD  FLOORS. 
It  will  undoubtedly  pay  most  farmers  to  make  board  floors  for 
their  "  dry  yard  "  to  "  pop  out  "  their  beans  on.  In  this  way  they 
can  keep  the  beans  perfectly  clean  and  free  from  lumps  of  hard  dirt 
and  small  stones,  which  cannot  be  taken  out  by  a  fanning  mill  or 
screens.  Such  a  floor  can  be  made  cheaply  in  sections,  say  8  feet 
wide  and  16  feet  long,  by  nailing  rough  boards  planed  on  one  side 
to  2  x  4  scantling  set  on  edges,  to  allow  air  and  rain  to  pass  under- 
neath. These  sections  can  be  easily  moved  by  wagon.  In  case  of 
rain  the  unpopped  beans  can  be  raked  into  one  or  more  piles  on 
part  of  the  floor,  and  the  other  section  used  to  cover  them.  When 
the  bean  season  is  over  they  can  be  used  for  other  purposes,  say 
storehouse  for  grain,  etc.,  or  shelter  for  animals,  and  the  next  sea- 
son for  dry  yard  floor,  and  so  on.  It  will  probably  pay  to  paint  the 
floor  with  cheap  black  paint ;  black  "  draws  the  sun,"  which  will 
quicken  the  "  popping  out  "  process.  The  paint  will  preserve  the 
wood  and  also  prevent  the  rain  from  soaking  into  the  floor,  thus 
enabling  the  farmer  to  spread  his  beans  again  much  sooner  after  the 
rain  is  over.  No  doubt  the  extra  money  received  for  the  castor 
bean  will  soon  pay  the  entire  cost  of  the  floor. 
After  the  beans  begin  to  ripen,  the  field  should  be  gone  over  once 
or  twice  a  week  until  frost.  In  hot,  dry  weather,  they  ripen  more 
rapidly  than  in  cool,  wet  weather.  Children  can  perform  this  work, 
and  a  large  family  of  children  cannot  be  more  profitably  employed 
