82 



Fertilizer and Culture 



The soy bean can be grown on ahnost any kind of 

 soil in Alabama. Any soil that will grow good crops 

 of cotton or corn will produce good crops of beans or 

 hay. A clay or clay loam well supplied with humus is 

 best adapted to this crop. Poor sandy soil will not 

 produce a profitable yield. 



Experiments at this Station seem to indicate that 

 about 200 pounds of acid phosphate applied in the drill 

 at planting time pays for its use. Lime either in the 

 form of ground limestone, quick or air slacked, applied 

 at the rate of two tons per acre once in three or four 

 years, increases the growth of the soy bean plant, 

 though it is not always necessary to the making of a 

 good crop. 



When the bean is planted for the first time, an ap- 

 plication of three or four loads of stable or lot manure 

 will materially increase the first crop. After the beans 

 have been once grown successfully on a piece of land, 

 the addition of nitrogenous fertilizer is not necessary 

 to secure a profitable yield. 



Soy bean land should be prepared in about the same 

 manner as for cotton. The rows may be made from 

 2% to 3I/2 feet wide. If the land is well drained, the 

 rows may be laid off and the seed planted on a level 

 surface; but if it is poorly drained, the seed should be 

 on a low bed. 



Soy beans may follow winter grain, if the stubl^lc is 

 plowed promptly and the beans planted immediately. 

 In those sections where many hogs are raised and the 

 fields fenced for pasturing, the corn rows may bo made 

 six feet wide, and a row of beans planted in each corn 

 middle. The corn and beans are cultivated together. 

 After pulling the corn, the beans may be grazed by hogs 

 and cattle. If it is desired to make hay of them, they 

 may be cut with a scythe or sharp hoe. 



Inoculation 



Soy beans require inoculation in order that they may 

 take up nitrogen from the air. While natural in- 

 oculation is widely distributed, it is often advisable 

 to employ artificial inoculation when the soy bean is 

 grown for the first time. 



The inoculation of the seed may be done either by 

 scattering in the drill with the seed 200 or 300 pounds 

 of inoculated soil per acre from some bean field. 



