CHIEF FACTS ABOUT SOYBEANS 211 



more valuable than the soybean, as it will smother weeds much 

 more successfully. The value of the hay of the two plants is near- 

 ly the same. There is frequently doubt as to which is the more 

 desirable to grow. On relatively poor soil or when broadcasted 

 cowpeas are always preferable. When cultivated, the soybean will 

 yield the greater return, and if cut late the hay is more easily cured. 

 For growing with corn or sorghum for hay or silage the cowpea 

 is generally preferable to the soybean. The feeding value of an 

 acre of soybeans for beef cattle was found by the Tennessee Ex- 

 periment Station to be about 50 per cent greater than that of cow- 

 peas grown on an adjoining acre. This was also approximately the 

 difference in yield of the two crops. As a grain producer the soy- 

 bean is in every way preferable to the cowpea, as it produces larger 

 yields of richer grain and can be harvested much more easily. The 

 soybean, therefore, is to be recommended above the cowpea where 

 intensive rather than extensive farming is practicable and desirable. 



SUMMARY. 



For intensive farming the soybean is the best annual legume to 

 grow for forage in the southern part of the cottonbelt and into 

 the southern part of the cornbelt. The soybean, whether used as 

 hay, grain, straw or silage, is very valuable as feed for live stock. 

 Soybean hay is practically identical in feeding value with alfalfa 

 and yields from 2 to 3 tons per acre. To make good soybean hay 

 the crop must be cut when about half the pods are full grown or 

 when the top leaves first begin to turn yellow. Soybean grain is 

 more valuable than cottonseed-meal as a supplemental feed in the 

 production of pork, mutton, wool, beef, milk and butter. A bushel 

 of soybeans is at least twice as valuable for feed as a bushel of 

 corn. As the grain is hard it is usually desirable to grind it into 

 meal for feeding. This is best done by mixing with corn before 

 the grinding to prevent gumming up the mill. 



Harvesting ordinarily should be done when the leaves first begin 

 to turn yellow, as the quality of the straw rapidly deteriorates 

 thereafter and the yield of seed will be practically as large as at 

 any later time. From 20 to 30 bushels of grain and \y 2 to 2 tons 

 of straw per acre are not uncommon. If soybeans are grown for 

 the seed alone, and sometimes this is desirable, the harvesting can 

 be done most easily by waiting until all the leaves have fallen. Soy- 

 bean straw, if the crop is cut before the leaves fall, is fully as val- 



