The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1879-06-19
FOR THE FARMERS HOUSEHOLD.
The Navy Bean.

tolerably good soil, except o wet, tena-
cious Understanding moisture being IA
tai to the seed, or if it terminates, the
plant will be sickly and comparatively
fruitless. A dry, light, mellow loan,
inclining to be sandy, seems to suit it
best. And as many farmers are opposed
to sowing wheat after corn, the navy
bean may be substituted with IS much
profit as well as considerably more al.
vantage to the land, having, like clover,
a tap root, which penetrates the subsoil,
bringing from thence the mineral ele-
ments, and upon its decay depositigg
the same near the surface for the use of
the succeeding crop. It is one of the
best crops, therefore, to grow in rota-
tion-following c31n admirably, and
leaving the ground in excellent condi.
ton fer wheat. The navy bean makes
but little vine, yields well, and usually
better than any other-generally COM
handing from $l,5O to so, although it
is sometimes quoted as low as $l.20 per
bushel.
The following plan Of sowing them on
corn land is practiced in portions of the
West with much success: Break up the
land in May and lett lie until about the
tenth of June, when cultivate, harrow
and roll until all weeds are destroyed
and the land is in fine condition for the
drill. Then drill in one bushel of the
beans with a force-feed wheat drill by
closing up every alternate spout. The
rows will then stand about eighteen
inches apart, and on good land compar-
atively owe the ground, no cultivation
being necessary. The advantages of this
mode of putting them in are that the
land is clear Of all weeds; the time of
sowing not sufficiently early for the cool
nights to check their growth, and hui
allow the weeds toget a start and choke
them; and the level condition in which
the preparation leaves the land allows
the mower to be used in harvesting the
crop. And when the beans are remov-
ed, all that is necessary in preparing the
ground for wheat is to run a heavy har-
row Immediately in front of the drill in
the wheat.
Beans may be either slowed away ON
the barn floor, or stacked around poles
in the fields, the poles to be about six
feet long, and sharpened ct both ends.
On going to plant the poles use a crow
bar for making the holes, set the poles,
and place around them pieces Of old
rails-or anything, for a foundation
building your stack two or three feet in
diameter, by slipping the bean vines
down from the top Of the pole, and top.
ping out the same with old straw. Stack
ed in this way they will keep for weeks
without injury from the weather. In
thrashing use either hand. fails Or they
may be tramped out with horses, taking
care in the latter case to have the vines
thick enough on the floor to prevent the
beans from being split by tho tramping.
Preserving Seeds and Fruits.
A correspondent OF the Southern Cut
t%ivator, who claims to have tested every
plan or preventive heard or read of for
preventing decay in fruits, gives the fol-
lowing as in every cnse successful in the
keeping of fruits for a long time. He
says; Take good, perfect sand "a very
cheap material in my locality, free it
from trash, ETC., by sieving it; put it in
q large metallic vessel q use large sirQp,
boilers), mixing -four Of sulphur
through the whole, enough to fumigate
it we'll, then heat to q temperature that
will voIatilize the sulphur, After main
tanning this heat until the sand is impal-
pably dry, letthe mass cooltoa moderate
warmth, and putting your sweet corn
(or other grain difficult to keep into
barrels or boxes, pour the sand in, fill
ing the same we'll, and packing down
closely. In heating the sand the vessel
should be covered, to retain as much as
possible the sulphurous fumes. / put
in the oorn stripped of the shuck, and
thus the sand sleeves well through the
barrel. This certainly balks the wevils,
and even rats do not burrow in it. 1t is
applicable TO any grain-even seed
wheat, so difficult to preserve in this
latitude. This sand keeps perfectly all
such fruits as oranges, apples and lem
ons, putting them away in shallow box
es. in o cool place. I've kept these fruits
for months perfect and plump, when, if
exposed to atmospheric heat and mois-
ture, they would have decayed in a few
days.
Feeding Cotton Seed Meal.
Cotton seed meal is one OF the richest
vegetable substances used as cattle food,
containing q large percentage Of nitro
gen and pnosphoric acid, and this is why
the manure Of animals fed on it is so
valuable. The process Of digestion con
sumes the oil and other c~arbonaceous
matter in the meal, leaving oil thenitro.
gen, phosphoric acid and potash to be