The Jasper news., 1918-01-03
Gy Ro6erf Ar1ou(ton


son from $40 to $12 bushel. The
food price at retail is consider
ably higher. Therefore, 1t becomes
no man to refer irreverently to
the bean, whether 1t be red, white,
black or mottled, or whether 1t be
baked, boiled or made into soup.
Professor Corbett, although horti-
culturist by profession, knows more
about beans than anyone. else In the
country. We may accept his state
mept, therefore, that the bean, which
grows practically everywhere except
at the North pole, is going to play q
large part In helping to bring Ger
many to terms. He says 1t was the
bean that put down the Civil war, and
then whipped Spain in 1893. So why
shouldn't 1t make as fine record In
the present conflict?
Previous to 1861, according to Pro-
lessor Corbett, beans were not much
used In this country on the table-bar-
ring, perhaps, the city Of Boston. At
that time our railroads were very
crude and they found 1t almost impos-
piled with guns, ammunition and cloth
ing, so In the matter of food bulk was,
eliminated as far as possible. Beans,
being light in weight, and, moreover,
very nourishing, made an ideal food
under the conditions prevailing so the
Northern quartermasters began to buy
them in large quantities and ship them
to the soldiers at the front
The soldiers waxed strong on beans;
likewise their taste for them grew
amazingly, so that when the war was
over and they returned to their homes,
they asked for beans. Thus a market
was created, where no market existed
before, and farmers began to grow
them. The bean industry, therefore,
may be said to have been created by
the Civil war. While beans made no
millionaires, they increased the pros
perity of farmers in the North and in
time became n valuable crop through
out the South.
For years beans have formed one of
the principal articles of food for the
soldiers in our regular army. During
titles of them, down on the Mexican
border they did the same thing, and
now in France the story is being re-
peated. 1t is not only our troops, how
ever, that are being fed on beans.
British and French soldiers are living
on them, and the American product, at
that. When autocracy has been con-
quered and democracy rules the world
credit should be given to the bean for
the part 1t has played in bringing
about such condition.
Fifty years ago the acreage in beans
In this country was small, but 1t has
been growing steadily. Last year $780,
600 acres We're planted to beans, the
yield being 5000, 900 bushels. The 1915
crop did better 92s,OOO acres yielding
something like 100000 bushels. Last
year there were good many foreign
buyers in the market, and this fact,
coupled with the smaller crop, caused
the farm price of beans to jump from
$3.50 a bushel In 1915 to $500 bushel
in 1916.
Farm value means the price that
consumers bought beans even for SO
n bushel AS the stock disappeared
from the market the price mounted
higher and higher. 1t might be sup.
posed, then, that the acreage this year
would break all previous records. But
with seed selling as high as SIP a
bushel, or 20 cents a pound, and
mighty little at even such unheard-of
prices, farmers preferred to take a
chance on some other crop with which
they were more familiar.
Beans are planted late in the spring
after the ground gets warm. The crop
is easily cultivated and readily shipped
and stored. Under average conditions,
Weld of ten to fifteen bushels per
acre can be expected In most states.
The greatest amount of labor Is need
cd at harvest time. On account of the
lack of special bean machinery, expe-
rience in handling the crop and the
labor market, 1t is probably desir-
able policy for many to grow small
acreages rather than for few to at
tempt large acreages.
The navy or pea bean is the leading
commercial variety of dry beans. 1t is
also called the soup bean. The demand
For this variety is we'll established, a
noint which - much In the growers
favor. II is also probably. the most
nrol,ac variety under most conditions.
II IL listed under various trade names