fine, and, when in good order, sell well; but they become spotted more readily, and are not so extensively planted as the others. The time for sowing may be, approximately, for the vicinity of Savannah, from the first to the middle of March, later to the northward, and earlier to the southward; in the middle of Florida, it may be safely planted as early as January 10th, and still further south, at any time in the winter. In 1881 the first beans from Florida came into the Savannah market on December 22d. Formerly vegetables regarded as out of season, could find no sale in the Northern markets, but now beans in limited quantities, bring fair prices in March.

SOIL.

The lightest land of the farm may be appropriated to the bean crop; but a sandy loam suits it best. Like other leguminous plants, it will grow fairly upon good soil without recent fertilization; though, like other market vegetables, it should be manured, and green, or fresh stable manure is considered most beneficial. The land being properly plowed and harrowed, straight furrows, if the land is level, are laid off, thirty inches apart. The manure is drilled from the tail of a cart, or with a manure distributor, at the rate of thirty wagon loads to the acre, then covered by the plow. The resulting ridge beds are leveled by means of a board attached to a plow beam, taking two at a time, or by hoe or rake.

To avoid repetitions, it may be stated here, that, for all vegetables hereafter to be treated, when manuring in the drill and planting on beds are mentioned, these operations of covering the manure and partly leveling the bed, must be understood to have preceded the putting in of the seed.

SOWING THE SEED.

The methods of depositing the seeds are various.

of the very best trucl ers in the vicinity of Savannah has

constructed an instrument for making holes, upon the previously raked beds, exactly an inch and a half deep, and three inches apart. Into these even his poorest hands may properly drop the beans. The implement consists of a wheel upon the periphery, or outer rim, to which are fixed pegs of the desired length and the proper distance apart. Another very successful farmer sows his beans by hand, in a wide furrow three inches deep, and covers them an inch and a half deep with a rake. The former claims a greater uniformity of showing above ground, a nicer appearance, a saving of seed, and greater facility in working the crop, as the hoe and cultivator may run close to the straight row. The other claims that his plants, in the wide furrow, come up in a sort of quincunx order, support each other, and that he gets more plants upon the same area. Others again open the drills by a hoe, or small bull-tongue plow and use a seed drill to sow the seed, and cover by rake, or board, or by means of the covering attachment with which the drill is provided. The drill must of course be arranged to work accurately and satisfactorily, when its use will prove the most expeditious and the cheapest method of planting.

CULTIVATION.

When the plants are three or four inches high, the cultivator may be run between the rows, and just before the buds appear, the plow and hoe should be used to land up or draw soil to the stems, a useful operation, and the last in the cultivation of the crop, which is, of course, only to be performed in dry weather.

PICKING AND PACKING.

The pods should be picked with great care, so as to cause as little disturbance of the roots as possible, and before the seeds become large enough to bulge out the pods, and while yet crisp enough to "snap"

when bent. Beans are apt to shrink in the package, and a little wilting prior to packing, in this case, is less objectionable. The beans should be laid regularly in the crate, well shaken down, and firmly packed. The crop lasts some three weeks, and about six pickings are usually made. A fair yield per acre, is one hundred and fifty crates, although more are sometimes made, and the prices range from one dollar to four dollars per crate, according to earliness and demand.

INSECTS.

Beans are such an early crop, and the pods are picked at such an early stage of growth, that the insects infest

Fig. 19.-BEAN WEEVIL (Bruchus fabe).

ing them rarely damage the market-gardener's crop to any extent.

They are as follows:

First. The Bean-weevil (Bruchus fabæ.)

Second. The Yellow Bear Caterpillar, the larva of the Miller-moth (Spilosoma Virginica).

Third. The Fall web-worm (Hyphantria textor). Fourth. The Blister-beetles, such as the Striped (Lytta vittata), the Ash-colored (L. cinerea), and the Margined Blister-beetles (L. marginata), which are, however, more hurtful to the Irish potato.

CHAPTER XIV.

BEET (Beta vulgaris).

Bettarave, French; Rothe-Rübe, German; Biet or Kroot, Dutch; Barba Biettola, Italian; Bettarage, Spanish.

The Beet is a biennial, tap-rooted plant, with somewhat fleshy leaves; it is a native of the sea coast of Southern Europe, and has been cultivated in England since 1656.

It is only within the past year or two, that the beet has been grown for shipment to any extent south of Norfolk, although it has for many years been one of the regular Bermuda crops. Next to the cabbage, this is one of the most extensively and profitably cultivated vegetables at the North, and it is probably destined to stand high in the estimation of the truck-farmer.

VARIETIES.

The turnip-rooted varieties are the earliest and best to grow at the South, and of these the "Egyptian" or "Red Egyptian Turnip" stands first, notwithstanding the seed is higher in price than any other sort. The "Early Blood Turnip" is next in value. The "Bassano" is the earliest variety, but objectionable in consequence of its turning a light color in boiling.

SOIL AND SOWING.

Beets, like the ruta-baga, may be sown for local markets in September and October; but in consequence of sudden changes of weather, success at this season is doubtful. Heavy rains and hot baking suns, whether the seed be up or not, may destroy a sowing. Although hardy, freezing will kill very young beets, and the

safest date for sowing near Savannah is about January 10th, and earlier or later, according to latitude. In middle Florida the beet may be sown through November and December. Like all tap-rooted plants, the beet delights in a deep, rich, loose soil, a low, but thoroughly drained, sandy mould being the best. If loamy, let the soil be deeply stirred, freed from clods and lumps, and made fine and mellow.

It is desirable to have clean and smooth roots, and fresh stable manure in the drill is objectionable, as it

Fig. 20.-EGYPTIAN BEET.

Fig. 21.-EARLY BLOOD TURNIP BEET. tends to make them branch or to produce "fingers and toes." Any rank manure in the drill, like night-soil, is objectionable, and hog manure is said to communicate an unpleasant flavor to the roots. Beets require a nitrogenous fertilizer, and well-rotted stable manure, thirty loads to the acre, broadcast, supplemented with five hundred pounds of Peruvian guano, or with three hundred pounds of nitrate of soda; or three-fourths of ton of the guano, or half a ton of nitrate of soda, composted with muck, will suffice without the stable manure. But in this case, the land should have previously produced some well-manured crop. As this plant is a native of the sea shore, an application of twelve bushels of salt per acre is beneficial to crops distant from the coast. If the cultivation of the beet crop is to be entirely by hand, the seed may be sown