CULTURE OF FIELD BEANS AND PEAS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1502, 28 August 1880, Page 6

CULTURE OF FIELD BEANS AND PEAS.

The bean id a plant of considerable importance to the farmer, as affording him a valuable food for both horses and swine. Beans are becoming of value as au article of export also, aB acoording to a contemporary advioeg have been received from London reporting most favourably on eampleß of beans sent there, and advising that large quantities could be placed at prices which would leave a very good margin for farmers; Beans are very little cultivated at present, but this news should induce farmers to de« vote Borne of their land to this orop instead of going 1 in so largely for bats. The present stagnation in the oat market should convince farmers that it is time to give up this crop for a time, and devote the space to some other kind of produce until oats become a more profitable orop. Oats are not included in a regular rotation of crops as practised by all good farmers in the Old Country, beans being grown in their stead, and are considered a more useful and profitable material for feeding purposes. The seeds of both beans and peas are highly nourishing feeding materials. This superior nutritive value is due to the large proportion of fleshforming substances they, contain.; -This nitrogenous matter is not gluten, whioh iB found in wheat or other grain, but consißti of a .vegetable compound called legumen. By an experiment instituted in England for the purpose of ascertaining the relative value of oats and beana, a bushel of beans and ohaff were substituted for a Back of oats with ohaff, to serve the same time. The result proved that the beans were superior to the oats, from the life, spirit, and sleekness of the horses. A bushel of beans is .supposed to yield fourteen pounds mor,e meal than a bußhel of oats : the thiok skin or husk of the oats is doubtless the bause of the difference in the weight of meaL In feeding horses with beans oare must be taken to moderate the quantity supplied, as they have a tendency to produce oolioand other oomplaints. Beans are said to be a good preparatory crop for wheat or barley, on acoount of the working the land requires for them, and the faoility they offer for cleaning the land of weeds by hoeing between the rows. Oats, on the oontmy, leave so muoh of their seed in the ground, that the sample of the succeeding orop is very often rendered unsaleable by them.

The soil most suitable for raising beans is that whioh is called wheat land. They flourish best on a soil containing lime, »b this substance greatly favours the growth of beans, peas, and all leguminous crops. . To ensure a good orop of beans, a liberal quantity of farm- yard or other manure should be applied at the time of sowing. Of the three methods of planting beans— namely, broadoast, dibbing, or drilling— the latter is 'preferred by most agriculturists 88 being the least expensive, and also having the advantage of admitting the operation of the horsehoe amongst the orop. In preparing land for field beans, much depends on the nature of the land and - the state of the weather ; for as they must be sown early in the spring, the ground is of ton too yret to give it all the preparation it requires. The field intended for a bean crop should be deeply ploughed immediately after harvest, and, after laying fallow through the winter, re-ploughed in the spring as soon as it is dry enough. The seed is dropped in every third or fourth furrow, behind the plough, by means, of a lipht drill-barrow, pushed along by hand or attaohed to the plough. The produoe is neoessarily influenced by the nature of the soil, the season, and the mode of cultivation employed. In favourable seasons, With judicious management, they will yield from twenty- five to thirty-five bushels per aore. Beans are generally out with the' reaphook or sickle, and after laying on the ground for a few days, are tied into sheaves with straw ropes, or whatever is most convenient. Before they are cut the grain ought to be well ripened, otherwise the quality is impaired, and a long time is required to put the straw in suoh a condition as to be preserved in the stack. Beans are usually threshed with the flail. The straw, if well harvested, forms a hearty and nutritious food for cattle in the winter season. Of the field pea there are both grey and white varieties. The pea will grow on almost any soil, but suoceeds best on a dry and moderately light one. It may be grown on all freshly broken-up lands and old leas with advantage. The preparation of the soil for the field pea is precisely the same as that for the bean, but newly broken-up land will require frequent ploughings for the purpose of destroying the turf or god. The seed in sown either broadcast

or drilled ; about two and a-half or three bushels per aore is sufficient. They may be sown as early in the spring as the season will admit. Peas are sometimes sown with beans with great advantage, as the beans serve as a support or prop for the peas, and the latter being thus kept off the ground, blossom and pod with much greater effeot. In harvesting peas, great care is necessary. If well harvested, the haulm is valuable as winter food for cattle; independent of the sample being muoh better. Peas are generally used for fattening and feeding pigs, for which they are better adapted, than beans, though the latter are better for horse feed.