The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-02-02
Beans Versus Potatoes.

! Speakers at the meeting of the New
England Nurserymen's association were
well advised in urging upon members the
growing of beans in spare lots about
! their places as a measure of food conser-
walton. The advice is good for all farm
ers and gardeners, as well AZ for nursery.
men. In the year 1917 the country may
be said to have specialized agrieulturally
on potatoes. This was due i'm large part
to the extremely short potato crop Of
the preceding year, and to the measur-
able potato famine which had resulted.
The whole population was potato hungry
| in 1917. The result of the extreme atten-
ton to the tuber last year was record
potato crop, out of which no one may be
said to be getting very much comfort,
Though abundant, potatoes are at very
nearly famine prices, and their food val
Tie being low, the housewife certainly is
not getting her moneys worth out of
them in feeding her folk. at the
rate of sixty cents peek. Meanwhile
the farmer complains that the price does
not remunerate him for his extra ex-
pense and trouble in their cultivation.
and threatens to raise none this year
When all is said that can truly be urged
in behalf of the potato as an article of
food, the fact remains that it is merely
valuable as a neutral concomitant. As
an accompaniment of meat, on the ia
BILE. And it has become a costly crop to
raise by reason of the multiplicity Of its
enemies. To save it from destruction
by the potato beetle, the blight. the scab
and rot, it must be sprayed several
times in succession, and throughout the
summer, with several kinds of poison.
1t must be successfully hoed and cult.
waited at considerable expenditure of
human and horse labor. And when it is
harvested, it is liable to rot in the bin
or the bag and freezes. easily during
in winter, when it is most
needed
All these disadvantages are conspicu-
ously absent in the case of the bean. The |
food value of the bean is very high, its !
content considerably surprising |
that of wheat. 1t is easily And cheaply |
planted, and requires little cultivation. II |
will thrive in any fairly good soil, be ii |
light or heavy. Its enemies are few and. |
generally, in fact, non-existent One
mans labor will suffice for the cultiva
ton of several acres of beans, and every |
acre, even by rought cultivation, win |
yield from 90 to 80 bushels of shelled |
beans. The whole plant is usabe the
tops making good animal fodder, green
or cured; and in the case of many of the
irieties the pods make an excellent table
vegetable" even When the seed has
been taken as a grain. The labor of har-
vesting is light and easy, and the dried /
bean can be stored and transported as
EASILY and as safely as any other grain.
Il is equally valuable as food for man
ind beast. 1t must not be assumed. of
course, that the bean is as valuable a
God as wheat. II is not so easy of diges
ion as wheat, and though richer in pro
Elm, it is not so generally and completely
as wheat. But the difficulty {
II its digestion is readily corrected in
he process of cooking. especially by the
addition of little soda. and 1t is prob
BILE that to most people it is as easily
ligestible as corn and corn products.
As an emergency crop under war con
itioas, the ordinary white kidney bean
Il commerce offers much greater advan- ]
ages than the potato. Widely and gen ,
rally cultivated it would put the Ameri- !
he danger of famine by another autumn. /;
md the kidney bean does not by any {
means exhaust the capabilities OF the !
pecies. There are more than a hundred ,
arieties cultivable in the United States.
he frijole. or Mexican black bean of the
outhwest, is probably the most excel
INT Of all beans in quality. and il much =
lore readily digestihle than the white
idney bean; and though il does not
pen rapidly in this latitude. il might
Q produced in enormous quantities in v
ur Pacific. mountain and southern states. =
D the,Sarieties which are best suitable Il
,r each growers purposes. the bean b
lould certainly Be planted literally this q
ear by all farmers and gardeners, pro n
'ssioual or amateur. Il win help to win
ie war.-Boston Transcript v
Grin FofIoyrx the SNOW "a