83 



or by the use of artificial cultures. Cultures may 

 be obtained from commercial companies or in small 

 amounts from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Of- 

 fice of Soil Bacteriology, Washington, D. C. 



Soy beans may be sown with a cotton or a corn 

 planter, provided with proper plates, any time from 

 April 15 to July 15. The seed should not be planted 

 when the ground is very wet or very cold. They should 

 be covered not more than two inches deep. As soon 

 as the plants come up they should be cultivated shal- 

 low — usually about three times. 



When soy beans are drilled for seed, the rate of 

 seeding is about two pecks per acre. When they are 

 sown broadcast for hay, the rate is about eight pecks; 

 when planted as a mixture for hay, about four pecks 

 of beans and four of cowpeas are necessary to secure 

 a good stand and to get a good quality of hay. 



Harvesting and Thrashing 



The time to harvest soy beans is when most pods are 

 ripe and half of the leaves fallen off. If left until the 

 pods become fully ripe, the pods burst open and scatter 

 the beans on the ground. If to be made into hay, it 

 should be mowed when the pods are well formed. 



When only a patch is planted, the soy bean plants 

 may be cut wdth a sharp hoe, corn knife, scythe, or 

 pulled up, and put in small piles to cure. When sev- 

 eral acres are grown, they may be cut with a mower, 

 self-rake, reaper, or binder and piled until they are 

 cured. If the acreage is large, the harvesting of the 

 seed may be done with a special bean harvester, several 

 kinds of which are now on the market. 



The soy bean can be thrashed with an ordinary grain 

 separator, if the speed of the cylinder is reduced to 

 about half of fhat for grain and some of the spikes 

 from the concave are removed. When the amount to 

 be thrashed is small, the dry plants may be spread out 

 on the floor or wagon sheet, and the seed beaten out 

 with a flail. 



Soy beans heat quickly when stored in bulk, if not 

 thoroughly dry. After thrashing they should be spread 

 out to dry, or sacked and piled in such a way that they 

 will be well ventilated. 



Varieties 



The Experiment Station has tested many different va- 

 rieties or strains for seed production during the past 



