Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1875-08-17
From tbc Lewiston J1urHclI
NOTES By THE W4I.
Oxroep FARNEgS AT HoNE.-CULTIvA-
rloN or BEANS. -HoP GRowNG.-ME.
:. \. AuBoI.s FARM, ANp0vEK.


Audover. June, 1873.
The cultivation o. beans as q field crop
is one Of increasing Importance, and The
method OF growing .biS c,op, on the above
farm, Is 50 d'Gccent from what has been
our custom, chat l give some account o.
NJ: A5bott's method Of planting and har-
veSt'ns
The soil on which beans seem to do the
best ) 4 clay loan but any me low, loose
soil will produce good c,ops of beans. \
heavy soil Is rs unSu led loi bean culture
as for com. \ sandy loan n generally
produce the foe quality, but not the
largest roduct TIE presence of any
considerable amount Of vegetable matter
in the sol, will produce an oyorStowth Of
vines. NJ ~ makes ii a point 10 have
the ground well worked, aud plant imme-
diltely. The ground Is made zoe by re-
pcated harrowiucs, and this gives level,
smooth bed or ~h'ch 10 mark out the
rows evenly and Straight. Atler me
ground Is prepared the rows are marked
out with q marker made for he purpose,
consisting Of a beam which Is mo-ticed,
tongue or thjlls for oxen or horse, by
which 1t Is drawn. In the beam are
placed teeth OF wood the required distance
apart for the rowS-these we're twenty
inches but Mr.. \. assured me that on
gtould perfectly free from stone the rows
night be Iun four inches nearer with ad-
vantage. This marker is guided by ham
dies and Is driven across the field indiczt-
ing four rows at once. The seed is drop.
ped in hills ten inches apart, FIVE grains
to the hin. The variety planted Is the
yellow-eyed bean, this variety command
Inc the highest price in the market He
has usually dropped from the hand, but
We see no reason why some Of the ma
chimes used for planting corn might not
be used 10 advantage.
The after cultivation consists of run
ming q narrow cU'tiya;or or horse hoe be-
tween the rows, and afterwards passing
through The rows with hoe cutting ~
what weeds may have been missed. Once
going over proves sufficient on land pre-
viOusly we'll prepared, as the vines being
thickly planted and supplied with the
necessary nutriment, grow fast, and very
soon so cover the ground that all weeds
tina gain a ioothold are soon smothered
oft.
Il will at once be seen that but little
expense of hand labor is needed after
planting till time Of harvesting. and this
Mr.. A. assured Us can be deferred all in-
definite period or till other harvesting :
out Of the way without detriment to the
crop; in fact, the crop viii be better in
every respect for remaining upon the vines
til nothing but the bare stalks and poles
remain. To our inquiry if there would
not be considerable loss by Smelling, by
remaining 30 long upon the vines, he re-
marked that there would be less loss than
IN stacking or any method which he had
tried to cure in the field. By remaining
50 long upon the vines, he says they arr
less dark colored grains and the crop pre-
sents a uniform appearance that is want
ing in those pulled aud cured in the stack.
His method Of harvesting is to choose =
bright, warm day and pull the beans
while moist with dew, setting them in
rows roots upward. When the sun gets
high the moisture dries of readily and
they are then hauled TO the barn aud
threshed Immediately, which is done with
much less labor than in any other method
be has tried.
The yellow-eyed variety brings the
highest price in market, and this variety
Is planted exclusively. Mr.. A. practices
planting beans among his corn, and is
about sure Of good crop. When plant
ed alone about two bushels seed an acre.
HOPS.
Much land is devoted to hop-growiug
in this town, and in fact throughout that
part of the county We see numerous acres
of land thiekly set with hop-pOles. Hop
raising of late years has proved lucra-
tive business. Mr.. Abbott has put in an
acre and a half of hops on his corn
ground; the corn crop Is not lessened by
their presence, the first year, if we ex-
eept the omission of every other hill in
alternate rows. The ground is marked
off in rows, both ways. three feet apart,
and hops ore planted six feet apart each
way. Has the experiment ever been tried I
Of growing hops three feet apart in the
rows, thus greatly increasing the number
of plants to the acre? The facilities for