THE SOY BEAN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



Ford S. Prince. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The soy bean is a new crop in many parts of the United 

 States. It has been grown for centuries in Manchuria, Japan, 

 and India, the seed being used for human food, and the stems 

 and leaves as forage for farm animals. It was first cultivated 

 in the United States in 1829, but did not attract much attention 

 until the latter part of the last century. Since 1880 hundreds 

 of varieties have been introduced into this country from Asia, 

 and the different strains of these exhibit all variations in habits 

 of growth, yield, time of maturity, etc. It is because many 

 of these varieties are heavy yielders of forage and are adapted 

 to our climate and soils that we believe the soy bean, on many 

 farms, will prove a profitable crop. 



The purpose of this bulletin is to describe methods of growing 

 and harvesting the soy bean, to discuss ways in which our farmers 

 may use it, and to report some field trials of varieties, inoculation 

 and fertilization which have been made at the Experiment 

 Station during the past few years. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT. 



The soy bean is an annual legume, very similar in appearance 

 to the common field bean. The plants themselves are erect and 

 branching. The different varieties vary greatly in their habits 

 of growth. Some varieties are very branching from the ground 

 up; others do not branch as freely and then only nearer the top. 

 A few varieties have a tendency to vine. Large leaves are 

 associated with the least branching, small leaves with the most 

 branching kinds. Those varieties which are most branching are 

 usually better adapted for hay than the less branching kinds. 

 The plants of all varieties are hairy, the pubescence being 

 either tawny or gray. Tawny colored pubescence is nearly 

 always found on those plants which bear purple flowers and dark 

 colored pods, the white on those which have white flowers. The 



