264 



Bulletin 310 



is enough on good soil. For fodder or silage purposes, i| to 2 bushels 

 of seed an acre will produce a larger yield of fodder. 



Ciiltivation between the rows should be begun as soon as the rows can 

 be seen, and may be done close to the bean seedlings if shields are used 

 to keep the loosened soil from covering them. Frequent shallow cultiva- 

 tion until the pods form and the plants branch out should be practiced. 

 The growth of tall weeds and annual grasses with the beans is undesirable. 



HARVESTING SOY BEANS 



For silage or soiling purposes, the crop may be harvested with a side- 

 delivery reaper or with a twine binder. The fodder is at its best for feed 



when the pods are mostly 

 filled and the foliage has not 

 yet begun to fall off. If ripe 

 seed is desired, the plants 

 should stand until the leaves 

 have dropped. When the 

 pods are tough with damp- 

 ness, a reaper or a mower may 

 be used to cut the ripe stalks. 

 Curing in stacks so made as 

 to shed water will be found 

 best. Varieties that shatter 

 badly when dry should be 

 handled in the field only when 

 damp enough to be tough. 

 The Medium Green variety is 

 very faulty in this respect. 

 A thresher may be used to 

 separate the beans from the 

 pods and stalks, but if it is 

 an ordinary grain thresher 

 most of the concaves must 

 be removed. 



Soy beans cut for silage 

 must be hauled from the field and mixed with com fodder at the 

 cutting box in order to have the mixture of corn and soy beans 

 evenly distributed in the silo. In this way, any proportion of beans 

 to corn may be made at will. It is not wise to use more than one load of 

 beans to two of corn, and one to four will be found to enrich the silage 

 noticeably. Soy beans alone, because of their high protein content, tend 

 to make a strong-smelling, objectionable silage. Their dilution with corn 



Fig. 55. — Medium Green soy beans growing in 

 the same row with Pride of the North dent corn. 

 The yield of fodder was over 16 tons an acre. 

 Season of 1908 



