SORREL-TREE 



SPANISH BAYONET 



3199 



SORP EL-TREE: Oxydendrvm. S., Wood: Oxalu Acetosella. 



SOUR GUM: Xyssa sylnUica. S. Sop: Annona mwricata. S. 

 Wood: Oiydendrum. 



SOUTHERNWOOD (Artemisia Abrotanum, which 

 see for botanical account) is a European herb, aroma- 

 tic, much branched, woody-stemmed, rather tender, 

 perennial, 3 to 5 feet tall, with pale green or grayish often 

 variegated leaves, small yellowish flowers and minute 

 seeds. (Fig. 3653.) It is occasionally found in family 

 gardens, where it is grown from seed (or more often 

 from its easily rooted cuttings, which are most readily 

 obtained in early summer) for its pleasant taste and 

 tonic properties, which resemble those of wormwood. 

 It is seldom offered by seedsmen in this country because 

 of its slight importance. ^1. G. KAINS. 



SOWBUGS. There are two common species, 

 Armadillidium vidgare and Porcellio laevis, known 

 respectively as the greenhouse pillbug and the door- 

 yard sowbug. These are small oval grayish terrestrial 

 crustaceans (not insects) that live in damp situations. 

 They feed, mostly at night, on decaying vegetable 

 matter and sometimes attack germinating seeds and the 

 roots, crown, and occasionally the leaves and blossoms 

 of greenhouse plants, such as primulas, petunias, saxi- 

 frage, violets, geraniums, roses, and wisteria. Orchids, 

 especially cattleyas, are liable to injury. Head lettuce 

 is often infested, and sowbugs sometimes become a 

 veritable pest in mushroom cellars. 



Sowbugs reproduce by means of eggs which are car- 

 ried by the female in a pouch on the under side of the 

 body. The young are similar in form to the adults and 

 are carried by the female until they attain a considera- 

 ble size. There is probably but one brood annually. 



Sowbugs are destroyed in greenhouses and similar 

 situations by the use of freshly sliced potatoes or beets 

 dusted lightly with pans green or some other arsenical. 

 These baits should be placed on the soil near the plants 

 to be protected in the evening, since sowbugs are 

 nocturnal in their habits. Another excellent bait is 

 made as follows: To a quart of corn-meal add enough 

 brown sugar to sweeten it, then add two tablespoonfuls 

 of paris green and stir until it is thoroughly mixed. 

 Moisten the mixture with just enough water so that it 

 will hold together. This bait is to be distributed around 

 the plants as recommended above. 



Water-cress sowbugs (Mancasettus brachyurus). In 

 the eastern United States water-cress is often seriously 

 injured by an aquatic species of sowbug that attacks 

 the submerged portions of the plant, cuts off the roots 

 and stems, and causes large masses of the cress to float 

 on top of the water. This form differs from the species 

 found in greenhouses by having longer legs and antennae 

 and being shrimp-like in form when viewed from the 

 side. It is about Yi inch in length and gray in color. 

 It often occurs in immense numbers so as practically 

 to destroy the whole crop. \Vhere cress is grown in 

 natural streams or ponds no practical method of con- 

 trolling the sowbugs has been devised. Some growers, 

 however, have been able to overcome the difficulty by 

 growing the plants in broad shallow beds sloping toward 

 the center, where a trough 10 inches square, lined with 

 boards, extends the whole length of the bed. When the 

 sowbugs become abundant, the water is shut off for 

 twelve to twenty-four hours, allowing the beds to drain. 

 Water is retained in the trough in which the sowbugs 

 soon accumulate in great numbers. They may be 

 destroyed by the addition of a liberal quantity of copper 

 sulfate solution. Less injury will result to the plants if 

 the water is drained off soon after the cress has been 

 B*1>A C. R. CROSBY. 



M. D. LEONARD. 



SOW THISTLE: A name for the prickly weedy species of 



Sonchus. 



3653. Southernwood. (X : _, 



SOYBEAN (Glycine Soja, formerly called G. his- 

 pida) is a legume, long a staple crop in Japan, but 

 somewhat recently cultivated more or less exten- 

 sively in the United States. (Figs. 479, 483.) In its 

 native country, Japan, the seed is an important human 

 food, product, 

 but in the 

 United States its 

 principal use at 

 present is as a 

 forage plant for 

 farm live-stock 

 and as a soil-ren- 

 ovator. It is an 

 upright leafy 

 branching plant, 

 growing 3 to 4 

 feet high. Two 

 distinct plants 

 have been called 

 soybean: the 

 smaller one 

 (Phaseolus au- 

 reus) is grown 

 principally in 

 southern Asia; 

 the larger spe- 

 cies, the true soy- 

 bean, is Glycine 

 Soja. This latter 

 species has be- 

 come popular in 

 some sections of 

 the United 

 States because 

 of its power of 

 resisting drought 

 and for the fur- 

 ther reason that is may supply a large amount of forage 

 rich in protein. In the northern states it" is probable 

 that the soybean will be acclimated and that it will 

 serve as an adjunct to the maize crop as a food for 

 stock, although it is coarse in leaf and stalk. 



It thrives best upon a warm well-drained loamy soil, 

 and seed should not be planted until all danger from 

 frost is over. The land should be prepared by plowing 

 and harrowing in the early spring, and the harrow 

 should be used two or three times before the seeds are 

 planted. Best success is attained by planting in drills, 

 rows to be from 2% to 3 feet apart and the hills in the 

 row 18 to 20 inches apart. During the early periods of 

 growth, cultivation should be frequent, preferably with 

 a fine-toothed implement. After the plants have grown 

 so that the ground is well shaded, the tillage may be dis- 

 continued. It is doubtful whether the curing of the 

 plants for hay will ever come into general practice, but 

 the crop may be largely grown for green soiling and for 

 ensilage purposes. It may be cut into the silo with corn 

 and serves to improve the quality of the food. 



To the horticulturist the soybean is valuable chiefly 

 as a soil-renovator. The soil of the orchard can be given 

 clean culture during the early summer and the soy- 

 beans may be sown broadcast about July 1 and har- 

 rowed in. One bushel of seed to the acre will be 

 required. One bushel of rye to the acre should be sown 

 at the same time, for when the beans are killed down by 

 the frost in the fall the rye will then serve as a cover-crop 

 for the winter. When the soil is so hard and forbid- 

 ding that clover will not thrive, the soybean may be 

 made to serve as a nitrogen-gatherer. See Glycine. 



L. A. CLINTON. 



SPJEND6NCEA: Cadia. S. tamarindifdlia, Desf.=Cadia pur- 

 purea. H.F. II. 4: 114. 



SPANISH BAYONET: Yucca. S. Broom: Spartium junceum. 

 S. Lime: Mdicocca bijwja. S. Oyster Plant: Scotymus. 



