The first planting of snaps or dwarf bush beans can be made when the
first planting of peas and beets are sown, but will not do as well
nor produce beans of as fine quality as those planted about two weeks
later, when the weather has become warmer and more settled. These yield
very abundantly, and a drill fifty feet long will produce as many as
can be used in a large family. While planting in a drill, for the sake
of convenience and quickness in planting, the seed should be dropped
in hills about ten inches apart and five seeds to a hill. If the beans
are kept picked closely, the plants will continue longer in bearing,
and they may be had throughout the season if successive plantings are
made, though the pole snaps are to be preferred through the summer and
fall, for their greater bearing qualities and the ease of gathering
them. In both the bush and pole snaps, care should be taken to secure
varieties that are entirely stringless, as they are not only much
easier to prepare for use, but are much more tender. The different
“Wax” varieties are very fine, but the bush beans of this class have
not done well in this locality for the last three seasons, the pods
being covered with a species of black spot or rot that spoils fully
two-thirds of them.[1]
The pole beans should not be planted until the ground is thoroughly
warmed in the spring, or until the thermometer stands over 60° all
night. It is quite common to plant these with poles 8 to 9 feet in
height. I think this is a mistake, as no ordinary picker can reach
higher than about six feet to advantage, and as the vines grow to the
tops of the poles before commencing to fruit, both beans and time are
lost. The poles should be set in rows four and one-half feet apart and
two and one-half to three feet apart in the rows. Two hundred poles
of Limas will furnish an ample supply throughout the season, and will
ripen a bushel of dried beans for winter use as well. Twenty-five
poles will furnish an ample supply of snaps, though we allowed one
row across the garden in the diagram given, the surplus being allowed
to ripen for winter use. Where the saving of room is an object and
the ground has been well manured, these pole snaps can be planted in
the hills of corn, and allowed to use the stalks as poles; they will
produce a good crop, but not nearly so many, nor are they as easy
to pick as when grown on the poles. For this purpose they should be
planted with some strong growing variety of corn, such as Stowell’s
Evergreen or other late variety.
The white soup bean, that is dried for winter use in various ways,
including the famous “Boston Baked Beans,” is generally grown by
dropping one or two hills between each hill of corn, and instead of
picking them, the whole plant is pulled up in the fall, and the beans
thrashed out with a flail when dry. For Limas and pole snaps, the
poles should be set by the aid of the garden line, and where any pole
is bowed or crooked it should be planted so as to bring it in line
with the row, lengthwise, as nearly as possible, that they may present
an orderly appearance. In setting the poles, make a hole from one to
two feet deep by driving the sharp end of a crowbar into the ground,
place the butt end of the pole in this hole and ram it firmly in its
place; then put one or two shovelfuls of compost around the base of the
pole, and with a sharp steel rake make a hill of fine dirt over the
compost. Five or six beans should be planted to each hill, but if all
grow should be thinned out to two or three. If the young plants do not
climb the poles readily at the first start, they should be trained
up and tied till they begin to take hold for themselves. Be careful,
in planting Lima beans, to push them into the soil with the eye down,
for, as the first leaves are quite large and heavy, it assists them
materially in breaking through the soil to plant them in this
manner.[2]
The Limas may be brought into bearing somewhat earlier in the season by
placing pieces of sod, cut four inches square and about three inches
thick, grass side down, in the hotbed, and planting four or five beans
in each piece; if this is done in the latter part of March they will be
of good size by the time it is warm enough to plant them out, which is
done by planting the piece of sod at the base of the pole, in hills, as
prepared for the seed. If the end of the vine is pinched off when it is
about four or five feet up the pole, it will assist the lateral shoots
in blooming early, and consequently produce beans earlier, though, like
all forcing methods, it will, to some extent, lessen the vigor of the
vine, and most likely, to some extent, the amount of the crop.
BUSH BEANS--_Golden Wax_.--This is one of the best bush beans; it
matures early; the pods are of very handsome appearance, brittle and
entirely stringless; it is a good bearer and makes an excellent shelled
bean for winter use.
_Best of All Dwarf Bean._--This is a green-podded bean, and is
probably the best for the first planting, as it is not only very early
but also very productive; the pods are six inches long, entirely
stringless, very fleshy and rich flavored.
_Champion Bush Bean._--This is a strong grower, attaining about
fifteen to eighteen inches in height, and an immense cropper. The beans
can be used as string beans in the green state, but its chief quality
lies in the superiority of the beans when dried, and the large crops
which it produces when grown for winter use.
[Illustration: BEST OF ALL DWARF BEAN.]
[Illustration: CHAMPION BUSH BEAN.]
POLE BEANS, SNAP VARIETIES--_Golden Wax Flageolet_.--This
bean is of recent introduction, and is worthy of all the praise that
has been bestowed upon it; it is a tremendous bearer, and is almost as
early as the dwarf wax varieties, the pods are much larger, being seven
to eight inches long, round and very fleshy; they are entirely free
from strings and of the finest quality. Unlike the other pole beans, it
begins to produce beans at the bottom of the pole as soon as it starts
to climb; and if these are used as they mature, it will continue in
bearing the entire season.[3]
_White Creaseback, or Best of All._--These for early and the
_Lazy Wife’s_ for late are the best of the green-podded pole
beans. The pods are about six inches in length, thick fleshed, and
of very fine quality. The Creaseback is very early and matures its
crop in a short time, thus making it a very profitable variety for
market. Both varieties are very productive, entirely stringless, and of
superior flavor.
[Illustration: CREASE BACK POLE BEAN.