The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-06-14
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
-Bcans and their Culture.

others besides your correspondent =. H.,
to their culture. Medium beans, which
u little more than year ago sold at
62@7Oc. per bushel, are now worth four
times that price, greater advance than
has been made in any other crop. High
prices of potatoes always direct attention
to beans as u partial substitute, and the
threatened war in Europe has had some
thing more to do i'll establishing the adj
vance. Still, mt ~ per bushel, benns
are paying crop, and the price is not
likely soon to go below that. Medium
beans are the kind most largely grown
here. They sell somewhat lower than
marrows, but are n surcr crop, and have
the advantage of ripenng all Mt the
same time if planted on uniformly rich
and dry soil. his last il very i'm
portant, as where some portions of the
field are richer or moister than others
they will be more or less uneven in
ripening, largely increasing the cost Of
gathering. Poorly ripened beans will
stain and become worthless. This in
wolves the extra labor of picking ont the
poor beans, which must be done by hand,
and is a slow and tedious process. 1t is
mostly done, where many beans are
women are hired for this work.
In western New York beans are grown
in large fields, planted by machines
which drop and cover in hills ten or
twelve inches apart, and rows two feet to
thirty inches wide. Unless the land is
very weedy, most of the work is done
by the cultivator. narrow implement
Just fitted for this purpose. Beans
should not be cultivated when their
leaves OF the ground is wet, as such cul-
tivation does more harm than good. It
is also better not to throw the earth
around the hills with the cultivator.
The bean leaf is broad and the stalk
tender, so that dragging the field when
Just coming up, as is done with corn, is
not admissible. A clover sod, two Years
old, where a rank growth of clover has
grown the previous year, is best for
beans, as such soil will generally be free
from weeds. Nothing is gained by
planting early. A week or ten days
later than corn planting is better than
earlier. Hereabouts beans are mostly
planted from the first to the twentieth
of June. Your Indiana correspondent
should select the time for planting, SO
that the crop would naturally ripen dur
ing the dry weather. If delayed too
late it is bad harvesting here, and would
be almost impossibleTon the deep loan of
the prairies after heavy rains begin. As
a rule. mucky soil is not suited to this
crop, but know no reason why beans
would not do we'll on any dry loan or
nns,lited to beans, but This is mistake.
I 4 ,,,l, &c
larger crops, and maturing them early
and uniformly.
Where bean planters cannot be had,
the crop is often put in with a drill,
closing enough tubes to allow room for
cultivating between. AS bean roots do
not spread widely, the closer they are
planted with the above limitation, the
better the crop. When well grown,
beans should cover the ground. A crop
of this kind should reach thirty, forty,
or more bushels A.; fifteen to twenty
five is considered good average. The
stalks are excellent for sheep, fed with
other forage, and will be eaten by horses
and cattle after a little practice. 1t is
coarse but nutritious food, but better for
sheep than for anything else
Beans have proved an exhausting crop,
contrary to the general expectation Of
those who began growing This is one
reason why they are not now cultivated
as largely as they were a few years ago.
They do not return much to the soi4 and
the beans sold carry off as many ele-
ments of fertility as an average crop of
wheat. They are also a poor crop to
precede wheat, partly because they leave
the soil too light and loose to hold wheat
roots during the winter. A common
practice in this county is to follow beans
with barley or oats, and seed with wheat
the year after. This rotation insures
three good grain crops, and good catch
of clover following.
The White Wax bean inquired about
by your corr espondent is chiefly used for
garden culture to supply string beans.
If he can get contract for it from some
scotsman, he can make it profitable
otherwise not. 1t will not yield " forty
bushels per acre" with any ordinary cul-
ture. Both White and Black Wax beans
are very difficult to get from the pod,
which increases the cost of growing
them.-W. j. f., IN Country Gentle
man.
STEwED CALF's LIVER. - Choose a
light colored liver, and cut incisions into
it, in which put strips of very sweet
bacon ; put in stew pan quarter of a
pound of butter; when melted and boil
ing hot add teaspoonful of -four, and
stir until light brown color, when
place in it the liver, turning it over and
around until it is cooked little on all
sides then add a pint of water, a squeeze
of lemon juice, sprig of parsley, some
summer savory, "a bay leaf and about doz-
en- very small young onions, salt and pep
per simmer very slowly one hour dish
with the gravy strained and poured over
it +; you can mince the liver adding a
small piece of isinglass, dissolved, or a
spoonful of gelatlne and add it to the
gravy pour over the minced liver, STIR
ring all together, putting into a mold,
leaving until cold, when turn out for
lunch or supper.
CREAM CAKE.-Four cupfuls -four,
three cupfuls sugar, one of cream, five
eggs, one teaspoonful soda.
SWEET RUsKs. One quart new milk,
three tablespoonfuls yeast, -four to make
thick batter mix at night, and in the
morning add one cupful fresh lard and
one cupful sugar rubbed together, three
eggs well beaten, preserving the white
of one beat this TO n stiff froth add a
little sugar, and spread over the top.
They are excellent.
JUMBLEs. cupful butter, two
cupfuls sugar, one cupful sour milk, one
egg, soda, nutmeg, -four enough to mold.