It does not take much frost to destroy the
plants, and if the soil is cold and wet, the beans decay instead
of coming up. If one has a warm, sheltered slope, he may begin
planting the middle of April. As a rule, however, bush-beans may
be planted from the first of May till the middle of July, in order
to keep up a succession. Cover the first seed planted one inch
deep; later plantings two inches deep. I think that earliest Red
Valentine, Black Wax or Butter, Golden Wax, and the late Refugee
are all the varieties needed for the garden.
The delicious pale Lima bean requires and deserves more attention.
I have always succeeded with it, and this has been my method: I
take a warm, rich, but not dry piece of ground, work it deeply
early in spring, again the first of May, so that the sun's rays
may penetrate and sweeten the ground. About the tenth of May I set
the poles firmly in the ground. Rough cedar-poles, with the stubs
of the branches extending a little, are the best. If smooth poles
are used, I take a hatchet, and beginning at the butt, I make
shallow, slanting cuts downward, so as to raise the bark a little.
These slight raisings of the bark or wood serve as supports to the
clambering vines. After the poles are in the ground I make a
broad, flat hill of loose soil and a little of the black powdery
fertilizer.
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