for the most improved drill-grubbers can per- 
fectly perform the whole work without its aid. 
Wilkie’s drill-grubber or horse-hoe, in particular, 
is a most effective implement: its first or central 
coulter has a double-feathered sole; its other two 
coulters are only single-feathered, and are so pro- 
longed and hinge-jointed at top as to be capable 
of expansion and contraction; and while these 
coulters are admirably adapted for cutting all 
weeds, a small attached harrow follows, and 
brings the cut weeds to the surface. Another 
_ excellent and very suitable implement is a spiked 
roller, of such size as to suit the interval between 
the rows, its spikes capable of being removed 
from the cylinder so as to convert the implement 
into a scarifier or a grubber, its frame provided 
| with a cross-bar for the attachment of different 
| kinds of coulters and tines, and its point mounted 
| on a small wheel to facilitate the transit from in- 
|, terval to interval at the end of the rows. After 
horse-hoeing or drill-grubbing has done its ut- 
| most, some women and boys, or some otherwise 
disengaged men, must give a thorough hand- 
_ hoeing, in order to remove whatever weeds may 
_ have escaped the horse-hoeing, or may be situated 
beyond its reach. These operations ought to be 
| repeated from time to time till all weeds are 
thoroughly exterminated, or till the bean-plants 
have attained so forward a growth that any far- 
| ther tillage would be injurious rather than benefi- 
cial. A well-managed field of beans ought to be 
as clean as a garden bed, and always is so under 
the care of an industrious farmer. Nothing can 
be a grosser outrage upon every principle of good 
husbandry, or can more effectually defeat the 
luxuriance of the cultivated crop itself, or the 
preparatory tilth for the corn crop of the fol- 
lowing year, than for a crop of beans to labour 
hard for subsistence amidst a choking growth of 
weeds. A common practice, after the several 
hoeing and weeding processes are concluded, is 
to raise a portion of the soil up to the stems of 
the plants, in the same manner as is done with 
potatoes. When the land is undrained and of a 
retentive nature, this practice facilitates the 
escape of surface-water, and tends to preserve 
the crop in a dry position; but, in other circum- 
stances, it has scarcely any other effect than to 
prevent the reapers from cutting the plants suf 
ficiently near the root in harvest, and to occasion 
inconvenience in afterwards ploughing up the 
land for wheat. 
Topping of the Bean.—The removal of the tops 
of bean-stems by lopping or nipping is almost 
universally a part of bean-culture in the garden, 
and is sometimes advantageously practised in the 
field. The principal object of it is to avert the 
devastations of the minute insect called the bean- 
dolphin; and subordinate objects are to invigor- 
ate the flowering, and induce comparative regu- 
larity in ripening. The structure and habits of 
the bean-dolphin have already been noticed in 
Fumigating with sulphur has 
the article Apuis. 
BEAN. 
been tried against the insect; but has seldom if 
ever been successful without being of such 
strength as greatly to damage the plants; and 
the removal of the tops is the only known effec- 
tual remedy. The honey-dew which accompanies 
the appearance of the aphis usually begins to be 
observed about the middle of May, and is in many 
districts popularly called the mildew ; it indicates 
itself by embrowning the points of the leaves; it 
afterwards extends over the whole surface of the 
leaves, and deepens the embrowning into black ; 
and, if unchecked, it eventually blights all the 
fructification, and kills the plant. The insect | 
itself, which is of a coal black colour, makes its | 
first appearance on the summit of the stem; and, | | 
if not dislodged, it soon swarms over the whole || 
of the top leaves, and eventually spreads down | 
the stem, and multiplies in myriads till the suc- 
culency and the very vitality of the plant perish. | 
But if the progress of the flowering be watched, | 
some ants may be observed on the ground around | 
the plants; and their presence is a certain indi- | 
cation that honey-dew is in the course of origi- 
nation, and therefore a practical hint that the 
time has arrived for the operation of topping. 
See the article Ant. This operation is performed 
either by a man walking along the intervals be- 
tween the rows, and cutting off the heads of the 
plants with a sword-blade or with a small scythe 
set in a handle, or by women and children pass- 
ing close along the side of the rows, and pinch- | 
ing off the heads of the plants with their hands. 
In the former method, the loppings ought after- 
wards to be gathered from the ground, and re- 
moved from the field; and in the latter, they 
may be deposited in bags or aprons, and emptied 
from time to time into a cart. Operators pinch- 
ing with both hands will perform the work with 
far more expedition than would at first thought 
be supposed possible, and their labour amounts, 
in extreme cases, to the actual saving of the whole 
crop. 
Harvesting of the Bean.—In a cold and humid 
climate, the harvest management of the bean, 
on account of the succulency of the plant, and 
the lateness and irregularity of its ripening, is 
peculiarly difficult. The crop ought to be well 
ripened before being cut, for otherwise it will 
not easily be brought into a dry enough condi- 
tion for being ricked, it will incur serious risk of 
injury from unfavourable changes in the weather, 
and it will, in any event, suffer considerable de- 
terioration in its quality. If allewed to become 
over ripe, some of the seed will be lost by shed- 
ding, and much of the remainder will acquire a 
dark colour in its outer skin, and occasion a 
diminution in the market value of the sample; 
and if not allowed to become ripe enough, the 
pods will shrink and deteriorate, and the haulm 
will incur great risk of partial or even total fer- 
mentation. After the eye of the seed is thor- 
oughly blackened, and the skin has acquired a 
yellowish and leathery colour and texture, even 
