Soy Beans as a Supplementary Silage Crop 265 



fodder in the silo reduces the danger of strong odors, and makes the silage 

 more nutritious, and not less palatable, than that from com only. The 

 yield of soy bean fodder cannot be so heavy as the yield of corn from the 

 same ground. On a fixed area, therefore, the total yield of both com and 

 soy bean fodders will be less than if all com were grown. In order to 

 follow the above practice, the grower must either ctiltivate more acres 

 or else be content with a smaller quantity of fodder in the silo. 



The proposition to grow the soy beans in the same rows with the com, 

 and thus enrich the quality of the fodder without materially decreasing 

 the yield, has been tried by a few farmers at different points in the State. 

 In some instances the practice has been followed for a number of years 

 with success; in others the successful association of soy beans with corn 

 has been demonstrated, but the grower has not made use of the fact 

 in a practical way. A brief account of the methods followed by a few 

 farmers who have proved the value of the mixed crop is given here. 



In 1905, a farmer at Millbrook, N. Y., began to plant com and soy beans 

 in hills by hand. The proportion was 4 kernels of corn to 6 soy beans 

 in hills 36 X 40 inches. That season four acres of the mixed crop yielded 

 72 tons of fodder. The proportion by weight of corn fodder to soy bean 

 fodder in the mixture was estimated to be about 5 to i. In 1906, the 

 mixed seed used was in the proportion of 4 or 5 of com to i o or 12 of soy 

 beans per hill. The yield of fodder was not reported, but the proportion 

 of corn fodder to soy bean fodder was slightly less t'han 5 to i. In 

 March of 1907, a sample of this silage was sent to the New York State 

 Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva for partial analysis. Doctor 

 Van Slyke reported that the sample contained 4.22 per cent protein and 

 2.2 per cent crude fat. 



The crop of 1907 seems to have had a normal growth of soy beans and 

 a very poor growth of corn. The proportion of corn fodder -Lo soy bean 

 fodder based on the weight of 12 hills was 2 to i. A sample of the silage 

 analyzed at the Cornell University Experiment Station in February, 1908, 

 showed higher percentages of solids, protein, fat, and carbohydrates than 

 did the analysis of ordinary corn silage. The nutritive ratio was reported 

 by Professor Cavanaugh as i : 6.75. During the last two years the practice 

 of hand planting has been discontinued. The beans and corn are mixed 

 in equal quantities and sown with a grain drill, in rows 3I feet apart, using 

 20 quarts of the mixed seed to an acre. During the season of 191 1 drought 

 interfered with the growth of the crop, but a yield of 12^ tons of fodder 

 an acre was harvested on a field of less than average productiveness for 

 this farm. A light dressing of manure was plowed under and about § 

 ton of lime was harrowed in during preparation of the field. Three hundred 

 pounds to the acre of complete fertilizer was applied at planting time, and 

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