The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-04-28
OUR NEGLECTED RESOURCES.
NUMBER FIVE.
Mr. Editor:

some recent investigation leads me
to write a special on Lima Beans. l |
do so from the fact that ia your state
they grow luxuriantly, and are worthy
Of a fair investigation. They are a
most popular article of diet and are
easily grown and prepared for market.
The dry heans sell for several dollars
per bushel, and the market Of the
country has never been supplied with
them. They are very easily raised
and when rightly cultivated they will
grow until frost kills them. There is
no earthly reason why they should
not take the place of many acres of
cotton. If the same care is used in
their cultivation as is used in the cul-
tivatiou Of the cotton crop the result
will be much more satisfactory to the
grower. They need a generous soil
aud they will always give generous
return for the labor used A rich
sandy loom-just such hand as you
can find on any West Tennessee farm
suits them best On this soil they do
not run too much to vines, even
when rich compost of stable man.
ure is used for a top dressing. The
vine is very healthy grower and re-
quires abundant nourishment. The
pods are quickly formed and they re-
qaire the full benefit of hot sum-
mer sun. They are natives of hot
climate. A distinguished and very
reliable authority says they shonld be
planted in rows running north and
south four feet apart and in hills four
feet apart ia the rows. In planting
the eye should be put downward and
and not more than one inch deep.
They may he planted from the mid
die of May until the 10th Of June,
in your climate. They require freS
quent cultivation until the vines are
vigorous enough to cover the ground.
The are favorite crop for persons
who wish to market them in the cit
les where they always bring high
prices green--or for those who prefer
to gather and dry them to sell as a
winter crop They can all be sold in
the market at high prices, either
green or ripe and thus they will prove
a very desirable crop to raise. They
do not require the trouble to gather
that cotton does and they will yield
three or four times as much money
per acre as that staple. 1t requires
some trouble to prepare for raising
this crop, but when once prepared for
it the trouble is over as the same land
may be used for several years for their
cultivation. The cheapest way is to
drive stakes in the ground in each
bill about five feet tall and place one
or two wires on the stakes. They
should be firmly set with post au-
CUR and they will stand for years.
The stakes may be used without the
wires. la this way about 200 hills
of beans can be made on an acre of
ground. And each hill, if the prop
er care is taken will yield at least one
quart of shelled beans. or about eigh-
ty.hve bushels of beans, worth from
two to four dollars per bushel or
from one hundred and seventy to
three hundred and forty dollars per
acre. Try the experiment. 1t will
pay largely beyond any question.
The work is light and easily done.
1t is active employment for the wo-
men and children and will add MANY
articles of comfort and utility to the
household aud the home. Remem>
Der this, the market is never over
stocked with them, and SO far they
have not been the object of unnatural
speculation, and so the demand may
be said to be constant and certain for
them. Look to your own financial