106 THE HANDBOOK FOE PEACTICAL FARMERS 



upright stem having the beans dustering around it. Both beans 

 and plant mature at the same time. It is grown for the seed, 

 for hay and for pasture. There are many different varieties 

 and they vary in height from one and one-half to five feet, and 



from sixty days to two hundred 

 days in time for maturing. Soy 

 beans are adapted to a Avide range 

 of soils, but in the South they are 

 replaced by cowpeas on sandy 

 soils, where the latter will outyield 

 I y AW . i^Hj them. 



«l \Mlk mt^' ^^ ^ seed crop is desired, they 



im" ■ aBk JBrJ are planted in rows wide enough 



^ ^BP-S jBp Jf. apart to cultivate, usually three to 



four feet. The corn planter may 

 be used to plant them. For hog- 

 pasture they are planted in rows 

 about half that far apart. The 

 corn planter may be used, strad- 

 dling every other row, or the grain 

 drill, by stopping up the proper 

 nmnber of holes. For hay they 

 are planted thicker in the rows, 

 or sown like grain, in which case 

 it will take one and one-half to 

 two bushels of seed per acre. For 

 seed, one-half bushel per acre will 

 suffice. They are a hot weather 

 plant and should not be planted 

 any sooner than the corn. 



If planted for the first time on 

 an}^ soil, the}^ should be inoculated. 

 For hay, they should be cut be- 

 fore there is any danger of losing 

 any leaves, which is indicated by 

 the fact that some of the bottom 

 leaves are turning yellow. For 

 seed, they are left till the leaves 

 have dropped off, when they are 

 cut, dried, and threshed. There 

 are a number of special harvesters 

 that strip the beans from the 



Fig. 29. — Tlie soy bean plant.— 

 Maryland Experiment Station, 

 Bulletin 201. 



standing plant. 



I 



