;ai Sept., 191 i] The Soy Bean. 625 



Varieties. 

 There are nearly 300 varieties catalogued in Bulletin No. 197 — " The 

 .Soy Bean: History, Varieties and. Field Studies, 1910." published by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. The periods of maturity vary 

 -from 80 to over 150 days. 



Very early ... ... ... ... 80 to 90 days. 



Early ... ... •• ... 90 to 100 ,, 



Medium early ... •. .-■ 100 to no ,, 



Medium ... ... ... ••• no to 120 ,, 



Medium late ... ... ... ... 120 to 130 ,, 



Late ... ... ... ■• 130 to 150 J' 



Very late ... ... ... ... more than 150 



The best varieties mentioned in the Bulletin referred to are : — 



Very early. — Ogemaw No. 17258. 



Early. — Karl)' Brown 25161, Vireo 22874, Wisconsin Black 25468. 



Medium early- — Chernie 18227, Auburn 21079, Elton 20406. 



Medium. — Ito San 17268, Median. Yellow 17269, Swan 22379, Brindle 20407. 



Medtum laie.— Brooks i6ySq, Austin 17263, Peking 17852B, 'Flava 16789.4, 

 'Cloud 16796, Haberlandt 17271. 



Za/g .'^Mammoth 17280, Hollybrook 17278, Tokyo 17264, Farnham 22312, Flat 

 King -17252, Acm« 14954. 



Very. late. — Barchet 20798, Riceland 20797. 



Cultivation. 



In a general way, any soil that will grow maize will grow .soy beans, 

 providing that the soil is not acid in reaction ; a soil of medium texture 

 containing lime, potash, phosphoric acid in fair amounts is the most suit- 

 able. Good results were obtained on the sandy soil of Cheltenham and 

 on the rather stiff clay hill soil at Lilydale, the potash of the clay being 

 .first made available by winter dressing with lime before sowing. If 

 ix>tash and phosphate are lacking, they should be supplied in the form of 

 artificial manure. Nitrogenous manures are not necessary, except.in the 

 case of poor or sandy soils to give the young plants a start. The plant 

 is said to be drought resistant, and to be able to endure slight frosts. 



Experiences in this State show that if too much rain falls after sowing 

 the seed, and before the plant has had time to thoroughly establish itself, 

 the results are disastrous. The young plants seem to withstand dry weather 

 better than young French beans of the same stage of growth, and their 

 capabilities of withstanding our hot north winds are about the same. No 

 advantage was gained by soaking the seed before sowing, the germination 

 taking from 10 to 25 days. On stiff soil, I found that the imported sted, 

 giving only 10 per cent, germination by the ordinary sowing, i in. deep, 

 gave a 90 per cent, germination when shallow i-in. drills were opened up 

 and the .seeds covered with decomposed organic matter (grass), using no 

 soil whatever to cover them. 



Do not sow until the ground becomes warm and all dangt-r of frost is 

 over. No extra growth is got by too early sowing; the weeds will be harder 

 to keep down, and more cultivation will be necessary. Better results are 

 obtained from drilling than broadcasting. The seeds should be sown 

 thickly enough in the row to give a plant every 4 in. to 6 in., the rows to 

 l>e 30 in. to 42 in. apart. AlK)ut h bushel of seed per acre will l)e sufficient. 

 In i)reparing the ground, the .soil should be well tilled. After sowing, the 

 land must be kejtt fairly frtt- from weeds, and the surface .soil occa.sionally 

 stirred, but this should not be done when the young plants are wi-t from 

 •dew or rain. The cultivation shouhl l)e frequent enough to keep the sur- 

 .face soil loose until the l)eans begin to bloom. 



