206 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



90 days to so long a season that they will mature only 

 in the region of cotton-growing. Soybeans love sun 

 and thrive best if planted when the earth is warm; they 

 are not hurt by cool weather so much as cowpeas and 

 may be planted somewhat earlier, though it is better 

 to plant them a little later than one plants corn. They 

 are best planted in drills as close as can be consistent 

 with the use of horse cultivation. I have had good suc- 

 cess spacing the rows 2' apart, though for large horses 

 a little more room is desirable. The beans are not easy 

 to get up. The soil should be made fine and level so 

 that they can be drilled in at uniform depth, and the 

 seeds must not be deep, about i l / 2 " being the maximum 

 depth allowable. 



Quantity of Seed to Sow. The amount of seed re- 

 quired is about 20 pounds per acre. It pays well to 

 cultivate soybeans carefully till they cover the ground 

 and shade it enough to keep down weeds. When the 

 seeds are ripe comes the problem of harvesting the crop 

 a problem yet in solution. The most economical way, 

 if one wishes to avoid loss of beans, is to cut with a, 

 short, strong scythe one row at a time, or to use a hand 

 knife like a strong, short sickle, taking hold of the plants 

 with the left hand, cutting them off and laying them 

 aside in bunches to dry. Commonly they are cut with 

 mowers or self-rake reapers and left to lie a few days 

 in the sun to dry. They may then be threshed with 

 a common thresher or a bean thresher. There may be 

 much loss from the pods popping open as the plants lie 

 drying on the ground. Pigs can afterward glean the 

 field. When cut for forage they are mown off before 



