52 THE BOOK OF CORN 



enough plates should be used in the planter boxes to 

 drop one or two seeds every two or three inches. If 

 a seed crop is desired, drill the rows the ordinary width 

 of the planter rows. If a forage or soil fertilizer crop 

 is the object, straddle the planter rows so that with 

 the ordinary three feet six inch planter the rows will 

 be twenty-one inches apart. This method can also be 

 used for planting cowpeas, care being taken that the 

 planter plates do not break the beans or peas. 



The soy bean or coffee berry, as it is sometimes 

 called, grows in an upright bushlike form, the pods 

 containing three or more seeds. From the peculiarity 

 of growth it is possible to harvest them easily and as 

 a result they are extensively grown for feeding pur- 

 poses. If a good stand is secured, the soy bean will 

 produce a large crop. If they are to be used for hay, 

 they should be cut early in the season before the 

 seeds are ripe and before the leaves have begun to fall. 

 This will prevent, in a large measure, the formation 

 of a hard, woody fiber, which is present in the matured 

 plants. As the plants are frequently harvested early 

 in the season before the seeds are fully matured and 

 dried out, and the seed stored in this condition, it fre- 

 quently happens that the pile of seed heats, and the 

 vitality is destroyed. It is absolutely necessary to test 

 the vitality of all soy bean seed before planting. 



By moving the crop north gradually, the plants 

 are so changed in their habit of maturity that they 

 become acclimated. At present great crops of this 

 soy bean are annually grown as far north as northern 

 Michigan. As a result large tracts of clay and sandy 

 soils are being greatly improved in productiveness. 

 It has been found from many experiments that soy 

 beans are very valuable soil fertilizers for corn and 

 that a crop of corn grown on soy bean land yields 



