The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-13 00:00:00

strongly recommend its cultivation and use. This plant
is admirably adapted for small tennant and Jotter cul-
tivation, and it is these that principally need it. Little
seed is required at first, the fodder is equal to the best
ryegrass hay, and the plant is of itself of that
pliable temperament, that you may hand fc ed it from
April till the frost sets in at the fall of the year. It will
bloom and pod to thelast, and thus secure an extra crop,
whereas with the oat, the barley, and other cereal
grasses, you are nearly precluded from this reward of
care and watchfulness, as the head and ear of these
grasses is formed before the stalk or leaves reach many
inches above the ground, and no future care or cul-
tivation will increase the number of " pickles " in these
ears.
But I know small tenants will say—Oh I beans would
not grow with us ; we never saw beans but ou the strong
lands of the "big farmers." This is very true ; we
generally see the best beans on strong stiff soils ; but the
simple fact of beans always growing best on these stiff
soils, when well and often ploughed and hoed deep,
shows us that it was not the stiffness of the soil which is
so congenial to the bean, but the ingredients which these
soils generally contain, the principal of which are be-
lieved to be the alkalies. Those who live near the sea-
side have been carryinc, alkaline matter, in the shape of
sea-ware, on their backs' to their lands for the last fifty
years, while at the same time they have been vigor-
ously cultivating the potato, a plant in its ingre
dients, and consequently its food, notoriously the re-
verse of the bean.' From these and other circum-
stances they are undoubtedly in a better plight for culti-
vating the bean than any other class ; and as they see
that the " big farmers," the manufacturers, and mer-
chants, and those who are " under Government," eat all
the beef and mutton from them, it is themselves that
especially require the bean. I would say to them, "do
not talk about not liking bean brose or bean bread." In
a single bannock you are probably swallowing as much
real food as in a whole pot-full of potatoes. As to the
liking of this or that sort of food, believe me, it is all
nonsense. Our relisk for food does not depend on what
we eat but on the state of hunger we may be in, and I
do believe the cotter relishes his " brochan" as much as
the alderman does his turtle-soup.
The cultivation of the bean is simple and easy. Dib-
bling them in is, I think, the best plan ; make the rows
eighteen inches apart, and dibble the beans at three
inches asunder in the rows. This will require about
two bushels per Scotch acre. Hoe well during the season,
and sow as early as the season will permit—sow the
Ileliogoland variety. It should be no discouragement to
small tenants, in trying the beans, that there
are none grown in their neighbourhood. This may
be from the very simple reason that they have
never been tried. There are no field beans culti-
vated within fifty miles of where I live, yet,
this season, I had at the rate of fifty bushels the
acre, on a piece of very ordinary land, being exactly
double what the " big farmers" reckon a good crop on
their strong lands, and double what I have been counting
upon in my previous calculations in this letter. Think
of this ; 3,0001b5. of stuff equal to beef or mutton, with
out bones too, on a single acre, and all to be left to
yourselves—for it is not the fashion at present for tha
great folks to eat bean bread, and good fashions never
travel up bill, although bad ones travel either way ! By
all means, therefore, try the Beans.