One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered Part 26

Probably they are all doing it in various degrees. Pull up or dig up a few plants when growing actively, not too early nor too late in the season, and look for nodules on the roots. Number and size considered together will measure their activity in this line in your soil.

Bean Growing.

I want to plant beans of different varieties. The land is rich, black loam with a little sand. When is the best time to plant? If planted early, what shall we do to keep the weevils out of them?

It is desirable to plant beans as early as you can without encountering danger of frost killing. No particular date can be mentioned for planting because the dates will vary in different locations according to the beginning of the frost-free period. The best way to escape weevil is to sell most of the beans as soon as harvested, treating those which you retain for seed, or for your own use, with bisulphide of carbon vapor or by gently heating to a temperature not above 130 degrees, which, of course, must be done carefully with an accurate thermometer so as not to injure germinating power. Unless you know that beans do well in your locality, it would be wise to plant a small area at first, because beans are somewhat particular in their choice of location in California, and one should have practical demonstration of bearing before risking much upon the crop.

The Yard-Long Bean.

I wish to ask about the very long bean which I think was introduced from China into California. I remember seeing one vine when I was living in California which I think must have been 20 or 30 feet long and had hundreds of pods and each of these pods were from 2 to 3 feet long. Are these beans generally considered eatable? Would they be at all suitable to get as a field bean which the hogs eat?

You probably refer to the "yard-long" pole bean. It is a world variety and may have come to California from China as you suggest, but it has also been well known for generations in Europe and was brought thence to the Eastern States at some early date. It is generally accounted as an unimportant species and certainly has not risen to commercial account in California. The beans are edible and the whole plant available for stock feeding, but there is no doubt but that the growth of some of the cowpeas would be preferable as a summer field crop for hog pasture.

Why the Beans are Waiting.

Can you tell me why pink beans which were planted early in Merced county, irrigated four times, hoed four times and cultivated, have no beans on them? The vines look finely.

Probably because you had too much hot, dry wind at the blooming. This is one of the most frequent troubles with beans in the hot valley, but the pink bean resists it better than other varieties. As the heat moderates you are likely to get blossoms which will come through and form pods, and then the crop will depend upon how long frost is postponed. You have also treated the plants a little too well with water and cultivation.

You had better let them feel the pinch of poverty a little now; they will be more likely to go to work.

Blackeye Beans.

What is the best way to prepare land for Black-eye beans? How much seed is required per acre, and what is the estimated cost of growing them?

The soil is a well-drained clay loam.

The cost of growing is not particularly different from other beans, and will vary, of course, according to the capacity and efficiency of the plows, harrows, teams, tractors, men, etc. Every man has to figure that according to his conditions and methods of turning and fining the land.

Sow 40 pounds per acre in drills 3 feet apart, and cultivate as long as you can without injuring the vines too much. Sowing must of course be done late, after the ground is warm and danger of frost is past, though the plowing and harrowing should be done earlier than that.

Blackeye Beans are Cow Peas.

I sent for some Blackeye cow peas; they look like Blackeye beans. Am sending you a sample of what I got. What are they?

Yes, they are in the cow pea group, but there are other cow peas which would not be recognized as having any relation to them. All cow peas are, however, beans, and they have not much use for frost. They are not hardy like the true pea group.

Growing Horse Beans.

Does the soil need to be inoculated for horse beans? I intend to plant five acres about January 1, on the valley border in Placer county and they get heavy frost in the morning. Does frost hurt them? How shall I plant them?

California experience is that horse beans grow readily without inoculation of the seed. Quite a good growth of the plant is being secured in many parts of the State, particularly in the coast region where the plant seems to thrive best. It is one of the hardiest of the bean family and will endure light frost. How hardy it will prove in your place could be told only by a local experiment. Whether it can be planted after frost danger is over, as corn is, and make satisfactory growth and product in the dry heat of the interior summer must also be determined by experience.

The horse bean is a tall growing, upright plant which is successfully grown in rows far enough apart for cultivation, say about 2 1/2 feet, the seed dropped thinly so that the plants will stand from 6 inches to 1 foot apart in the row.

Growing Castor Beans.

Give information on the castor oil bean; the kind of bean best to plant, when to plant and harvest, the best soil, and where one can market them.

Castor bean growing has been undertaken from time to time since 1860 in various parts of California. There is no difficulty about getting a satisfactory growth of the plant in parts of the State where moisture enough can be depended upon. Although the growing of beans is easy enough, the harvesting is a difficult proposition, because in California the cl.u.s.ters ripen from time to time, have to be gathered by hand, to be put in the sun to dry, and finally threshed when they are popping properly. The low price, in connection with the amount of hand work which has to be done upon the crop, has removed all the attractions for California growers. There is also, some years, an excess of production in the central West, which causes prices to fall and makes it still more impracticable to make money from the crop with the ordinary rates of labor. The oil cannot be economically extracted except by the aid of the most effective machinery and a well equipped establishment. Oil-making in the rude way in which it is conducted in India would certainly not be profitable here.

Legume Seed Inoculation.

Is there any virtue in inoculating plants with the bacteria that some seed firms offer? I refer to such plants as peas and beans.

If the land is yielding good crops of these plants and the roots are noduled, it does not need addition of germs. If the growth is scant even when there is enough moisture present and the roots are free from nodules, the presumption is that germs should be added. Speaking generally, added germs are not needed in California because our great legume crops are made without inoculation. Presumably, burr clover and our host of native legumes have already charged the soil with them. If, however, such plants do not do well, try inoculation by all means, to see if absence of germs is the reason for such failure or whether you must look for some other reason. If the results are satisfactory, you may have made a great gain by introduction of desirable soil organisms which you can extend as you like by the distribution of the germ-laden soil from the areas which have been given that character by inoculation of the seed.

Beans on Irrigated Mesas.

Would white and pink beans do well on the red orange land at Palermo with plenty of water? I have in mind hill land, the hills being very red and running into a dark soil in the lower part. How many beans could I get per acre?

Probably nothing would be better for the land or for the future needs of the trees than to grow beans. An average crop of beans, for the whole State and all kinds of beans, is about one ton to the acre. What you will get by irrigation on hot uplands we do not know. Beans do not like dry heat, even if the soil moisture is adequate. They do not fructify well even when they grow well. The pink bean does best under such conditions. All beans, except horse beans, must be brought up after frost dangers are all over, and this brings them into high heat almost from the start in such a place as you mention. You should find out locally how beans perform under such conditions as you have, before undertaking much investment.

Leases for Sugar Beets.