The following table, from the Report of the Twelfth Census, gives the statistics of bean pro duction for the season 1899 as compared with 1889 : Climate.—As to the climatic limitations of com mercial bean-growing, we are uncertain. As a mat ter of fact, the industry is at present confined to the northern border of the United States, a part of California and to southern Canada. The garden beans are extensively grown in more southern and warmer localities, and no doubt the field crop The Dominion of Canada had 46,634 acres of beans in 1901, with a yield of 861,327 bushels.
Culture. .
Soil.—" Too poor to grow white beans" is a com mon expression with some farmers in describing soils in a low state of fertility. This would seem to indicate that beans will thrive on poor land bet ter than most crops. Beans will grow on a variety of soils and perhaps give fair yields on soils not strong enough for satisfactory results with corn or potatoes ; nevertheless, profitable bean-growing requires soils well adapted to the crop and in a good or even high state of fertility. Like most leguminous crops, beans reach their highest de velopment on limestone soils. Clay looms, if well drained, and sandy or gravelly loam if well sup plied with humus and properly fertilized, will grow profitable crops of beans. Heavy clay and sandy soils are less suitable. Peaty soils are not desirable, as they produce a rank growth of vine that is sub ject to diseases and the ripening of the seeds is uneven. Land that will produce both good corn and good wheat will grow beans successfully, although the beans will not thrive on such heavy soils as will wheat nor on such light soils as will cont.
would grow there satisfactorily. Insects and other pests are more abundant, however, in the warmer localities and they interfere with the ripening of sound seed, and probably would render results with the field crop uncertain. The market-gareners of the South resort to northern-grown beans for seed because of the prevalence of the weevil in seed of their own production. It is probable that the effect of climate on the pests of the bean crop has more influence in limiting the area of production than has either soil or climate on the crop itself. Even within the limits of New York there are great differences in the destructiveness of the weevil. Beans grown in the northern counties are rarely affected by weevil, while those grown in the south ern counties as rarely escape.
Place in rotation.—Beans do best on an inverted clover sod and usually are given this place in the rotation. A three-year rotation of clover, beans and wheat is practiced in a considerable part of the bean-growing section. Corn and potatoes are usually secondary to beans in these localities. When grown, they get a pan, of the clover sod and are often followed by beans, so that the rotation becomes one of four years. When beans are to be followed by winter wheat, the early-maturing varieties are preferred, as they are off the land early enough to permit thorough fitting of the soil for wheat. Late-maturing varieties are more fre quently followed by some spring-sown crop, as oats.
plowing is essential to best results with beans. As the planting is not done till late spring at earliest, there is a tendency, owing to pressure of other work or to slackness, to delay plowing till near the time of planting, much to the disadvantage of the crop. As in the case of wheat and buckwheat, the land should be plowed Eve or six weeks before the time of planting and should receive frequent harrowings to bring it into the best possible condition. By this treatment a iarger quantity of moisture is held in the subsoil and becomes available for the crop later in the season. The weed seeds are also given a chance to germinate and to be killed before planting, so the after-tillage of the crop is less expensive. More fre quently than otherwise the crop suffers for want of moisture at some period in its growth, and early plowing and thorough fitting are the best means of guarding against this contingency. Probably no one thing results in so much loss to bean-growers as late and hasty fitting of the land.
When grown on poor land, beans respond well to dressings of barnyard manure or of commercial fer tilizer, though it is not a general practice to manure or fertilize the crop. In experiments conducted by the Cornell Experiment Station, it is indicated that applications of phosphoric acid are especially likely to prove profitable.
Seed.—The quantity of seed required per acre varies with the variety. Of the small varieties (Marrow Pea and Boston Small Pea), many growers plant one-half bushel per acre, although some secure better results with three pecks or even one bushel. Five or six pecks of Kidney beans are recommended, and intermediate amounts of other sorts, according to size.