Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-03-06
GeueraI AgrituIture.
For the VERMONT FARMER.
PRACTICAL BEAN CULTURE.

For the VERMONT FARMER.
PRACTICAL BEAN CULTURE.
BY request send you an article on bean
culture, which although very imperfect IN
many points, may perhaps bo Of use to
those who have had but little experience in
the growing Of beans for sale.
soil.
1t has become sort Of tradition among
farmers that beans will grow anywhere, IN
fact that poor soil is well adapted to their
culture, and the custom is with many to
plant upon land too poor to bear anything
else. If but few bushels are required for
home use this may do, but il we are to
grow them for sale, and in quantity, ex7
pecting to realize a profit, We can hardly
make greater mistake. will 60 so far
as to say that the stronger or more fertile
the soil the better, provided the variety
grown be right, for it is possible to make
soil too rich for some varieties, as the Mar
rowfat, Pea, &c, but for most Of the early
bush beans the richer the soil the better,
and land that will not produce 20 bushels
of cleaned beans to the acre, had better
bo used for some other purpose. The soil
best adapted to nearly all varieties is a
sandy loan, but any loan il not too heavy
is good. Sward ground If in good heart,
plOwed in the fall, exposed to the action Of
frost through the winter, then finely pull
verified with the harrow, will give the best
of crops, with very little outlay for labor,
but as such land is not always to be had,
we may successfully use land that has been
cropped to corn or potatoes the year pre-
vious, and if heavily or fairly manured for
the previous crop, it will not be necessary to
apply more, otherwise good sprinkling Of
fine compost on the surface after plowing,
and we'll narrowed in, will pay. For some
varieties as for instance the Pea bean,
Dwarf White Wax Pod, &C., low black or
mucky land, if not too wet, will often yield
the best of crops, and such land will hardly
need to be enriched, as growth will be sufi-
ciently rank without, and should the season
prove very wet there is even danger of too
rank growth Of vines, which becoming mat
ted on the ground, the beans will become
discolored and spoiled. The cultivator by
little experimenting car better tell what
land to plant than can be told him in an
article like this, bearing in mind that to get
good crops he must at least plant on good
ground.
Best Varieties.
As to varieties to grow, everything will
depend on location, markets, &C., AMI as
every important market has its own favorite
kinds, it would require too much space for
me to enumerate, For ordinary culture
and to sell as dry bean, perhaps no vari.
ETY. equals the common Pea bean, as tho
price is as high as any, the demand fol
them great, and the crop which is un'
equalled as to yield is grown with little
difficulty and risk when compared with
most others. If the crop is to be sold fol
snap or string beans, then the Early Valen'
tine, Early Yellow Six Week, and the differ.
ent kinds of Wax or Butter beans should
be grown, if as shell beans, the Horticultural
both bush and pole, cannot well be improved
upon, and if grown for sale as dry beans tC
the seedsmen or market gardeners for seeC
stock, we must Of course be governed BY
the demand.
Time for Planting.
The time for planting should not be hur
ried, especially for the main crop, as it de
cidcdly tends to dwarf growth if they CONT
up before the weather gets warm, and al
though we may make somo considerable va
ration for the different varieties, l thinI
for this latitude from the lst to the 10th o
june will cover nearly the whole Of the bes
planting season.
Cultivation.
The land being we'll prepared by repeated
narrowing, should be furrowed by using
One-hoEse marker with cultivator teeth 81
inches apart, making 3 or burrows or drill
at once, the drills being from to inche
in depth. Drop the seed with a hand see,
sower, regulating according to size Of see,
and habits Of growth, so as to SOW say iron
~ quarts Of Pea beans to bushels o
the larger varieties per acre. use tn
Harrington sowcr, the No. 7 hole in the dis
being right for Pea beans, and the larges
hole enlarged for most others. 1t matter
but little how you cover, provided it be vel
done. 1t costs but little to cover with tn
hoe, but as l often plant large fields an
find myself short of help, cover with
pointed tooth harrow or drag and find it I
make but little difference whether harrowiD
with or across the drills, as the beans &c
scattered but very little. If the ground b
very uneven it is well to LET a man folloV
with hoe to cover any left by the harrow
If the land be not very weedy cultivu
tion should be mostly done with th
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