118 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



points strongly toward close seeding on well-prepared land, to be 

 followed by rapid over-cultivation without too much regard for the 

 individual plant. We feel that higher hay yields are to be expected, 

 and more nitrogen fixed, where the land is most fully occupied. 



Harvesting questions should also receive attention. Economy of 

 material must go hand in hand with economy of labor. The latter 

 becomes relatively more important as the price of seed comes down 

 without a corresponding decrease in the cost of labor. We should 

 know whether more than one soy hay crop may be grown on the same 

 land in a single season. Some evidence points to that possibility. 

 May soys be cut before blooming and survive the cutting? What 

 yields of hay would they make at that stage? If they will not sur- 

 vive, may a second seeding be made which will yield a hay crop 

 before frost? 



What yield of ensilage might we get from a mixed solid seeding 

 of sweet corn or pop corn with an early variety of soys? It might 

 bring silo filling at a more convenient time on farms where soybean 

 harvest and wheat seeding sometimes interfere with silo filling. What 

 quality of ensilage would such a combination in varying proportions 

 make? 



How is the composition, palatability, digestibility, and yield of 

 soy hay in tons and in pounds of meat per acre affected by the stage 

 of maturity at cutting ? What is the relative value of soybean straw 

 or hullings compared to oat straw? Does it pay to hull soybeans and 

 feed grain and straw separately, or will the hull tend to overcome 

 the ill effects sometimes observed when feeding hulled beans? Will 

 extraction of the oil overcome these ill effects? May they be over- 

 come by any kind of supplemental feeds? Colorado lamb feeders 

 find it practicable to harvest field peas directly from the field with 

 lambs. Can we do it with soys? 



FERTILITY AND SOIL PHYSICS PROBLEMS AS RELATED 

 TO THE LEGUMES 



Fertility and soil physics problems related to all these legumes 

 need further study. The root systems of perennial and biennial 

 plants, and the functions they perform, differ so much from that of 

 the annual soybean that comparison is difficult. We should know the 

 comparative manurial value, in whole or in part, or indirectly, after 

 being pastured or fed to live stock. We believe the possibilities of 

 both sweet clover and soys surpass red clover in some respects. Purdue 

 records show that soys seeded after a wheat crop was taken off, grew 



