GRASS AND HAY 93 



products (soy and miso). These products are imported into Hawaii 

 from Japan in large quantities, but their manufacture is being rap- 

 idly extended in Hawaii. This has created quite a demand for the 

 bean locally. At present two and one-half million pounds of the 

 bean are being imported into Hawaii annually. The average cost is 

 about $3 per hundred pounds landed in Honolulu and the beans sell 

 for from $3.25 to $3.40 per hundred pounds. The Japanese coffee 

 growers in the Kona district in Hawaii have been growing the beans 

 as an intercrop for a number of years. The total production is said 

 to be about 200,000 pounds per annum. It will thus be seen that the 

 immediate local demand is very far from being supplied at present. 



Because of the great diversity of types available, the crop may 

 be adapted to many forms of culture. Any crop that will permit of 

 intercultures may have some variety of soy bean adapted to its need. 

 Thus if it should be found advisable to intercrop the pineapple, sisal, 

 coffee, rubber, or other crops during the unproductive periods, to 

 help pay for the expense of maintenance, or as a direct aid in fertili- 

 zation, the soy bean would be found to fill this need better than 

 almost any other legume that could be grown. As a catch crop to 

 fill in a short interval between two staple crops, its early maturity 

 may give it advantages not possessed by other legumes. 



While in a regular rotation it fills all the needs that can be sup- 

 plied by any legume, its value as a green manuring crop would seem 

 to be of equal value. It is more easily turned under than any other 

 legume treated in this bulletin and rots more quickly than the coarser 

 stemmed sorts. In Japan and other oriental countries this crop, to 

 a greater extent than almost any other, is responsible for the remark- 

 able maintenance of their soil fertility. At least one American 

 grower in Hawaii has profited by these practices. His method is to 

 sow the soy beans between various perennial fodder crops. 



For the low, compact varieties seed may be drilled in rows 18 to 

 24 inches apart, but the tall, branching sorts should be planted at 

 least 30 inches apart; 40 to 60 pounds of seed will be required to 

 plant an acre, depending upon the size of the seed and the distance 

 apart. As the soy bean shades the ground less than do most of the 

 other legumes, it requires more cultivation to keep down weeds and 

 conserve the moisture, and it will repay all reasonable tillage. If 

 intended for green or cured fodder or silage, the crop should be 

 harvested when the pods are half formed. If intended for seed, care 

 should be taken not to delay the harvest too long, since most varieties 

 shatter the seed very readily, with the result that much of the seed 

 may be lost. 



The yield of seed obtained by the station from small experi- 

 mental plantings ranges from 600 to 1,000 pounds per acre from the 

 dwarf early maturing varieties, and about twice that amount from 

 the medium late and medium tall sorts. It seems very doubtful that 

 more than a ton of seed per acre can be obtained under any except 

 unusually favorable conditions. The yield of fodder from the heavy 

 seeding varieties about equals or slightly exceeds the yield of seed. 

 The ranker growing varieties have yielded at the rate of 4 to 8 tons 



