132 SOY BEANS IN BENGAL, BIHAR AND ORISSA. 



Keport of the Kalimpong Farm for 1910-11, where it is stated 

 that this variety is cultivated at higher altitudes than the other 

 varieties It does not do so well when sown as a mixed crop 

 with maize as when grown by itself. (Plate III). 



5. DISTRIBUTION. 



Decandolle (14) came to the conclusion that soy beans are a 

 modern introduction into India, because Roxburgh had only seen 

 an introduced plant in the Calcutta Botanic Gardens. Our obser- 

 vations show that the black, chocolate, and yellow seeded varieties 

 of soy beans (Types I — IV) are cultivated under the name Bhet- 

 mas to a very limited extent indeed in the plains of Bengal. The 

 only plots which we have actually seen growing have been in the 

 neighbourhood of Sabour from seed stolen from the Botanical 

 area. Samples of the seeds have, however, been met with at 

 exhibitions in Bihar, Orissa and Chota Nagpur. In the Sonthal 

 Parganas the yellow and chocolate varieties are cultivated with 

 cotton and are called Disomhorac. It is, therefore, possible that 

 soy beans may have been cultivated in the plains before Rox- 

 burgh's time, but escaped his notice owing to the extremely limit- 

 ed extent of their cultivation. In the hills the following five 

 varieties, black seed (Type lA), greeny yellow (Type II1A), pale 

 chocolate (Type IVA), Barmeli and Nepali, are cultivated to 

 a small extent and of these the Barmeli variety would appear 

 to be the commonest. Soy beans can be cultivated up to an 

 elevation of 6,000 feet where Phaseolus Spp. will not thrive. 



With regard to their distribution it is interesting to note 

 that all the varieties cultivated in the plains are pure, whereas 

 those cultivated in the hills are usually very impure. The types 

 present in the plains are all late varieties with long twining 

 branches, tawny hairs and purple flowers, whereas the Darjeeling 

 varieties appear to contain plants exhibiting man) 7 other charac- 

 ters such as upright habit, white flowers, aclpressed hairs on the 

 upper leaf surface, white pubescence and various seed characters 

 which are present in the Chinese varieties introduced into Amer- 

 ica. The time of maturity of the Darjeeling varieties also 



