FORAGE PLANTS OP THE FAMILY LEGUMINOS^ 203 



Cultivation. Soy-beans will withstand considerable frost, and they 

 will succeed on nearly all types of soil, but the best crops are obtained in 

 a mellow, sandy loam, or clay loam. They make a satisfactory growth 

 on poor soils. The preparation of the soil for the soy-bean is similar to 

 that for corn. The land should be plowed early and deep, and then har- 

 rowed at intervals until the beans are planted. Under nearly all condi- 

 tions, the soy-bean should be planted in rows and cultivated sufficiently 

 to keep down the weeds.. The yield of seed is always greater, when the soy 

 plant is grown in rows. 



If the conditions are favorable, the soy-bean germinates in a few days 

 and cultivation should begin, as soon, as the young plantlet appears. One 

 deep cultivation should be given, and after that the cultivations should be 

 shallow. The soy-bean may be used advantageously in many systems of 

 crop rotations. North of the Ohio River, a rotation of corn, soy-beans, 

 wheat and clover is practised. A soy-bean crop is often grown in North 

 Carolina and Tennessee between two wheat crops, or between two oat 

 crops. It can also be used as a catch crop. Soy-beans are more generally 

 grown with corn than with any other crop. The beans may be planted in 

 the same hills with corn in alternate hills with corn in the same row, 

 in alternate rows of each, or there may be two rows of each. When grown 

 with corn, the crop is generally pastured, or made into ensilage. It is 

 a profitable crop when grown for seed, the average yield being about fifteen 

 bushels in the northern states to twenty-five bushels in the southern part 

 of the cotton belt. 



As the protein content of soy-bean seeds is thirty to forty-six per cent, 

 their feeding value is high and can be fed whole to sheep and hogs, or 

 used ground for stock feeding and milk production. The total per cent, 

 of digestible nutrients of soy-bean seed is 85.9, of this there is 30.7 per 

 cent, of protein 22.8 per cent, of carbohydrates and 14.4 per cent, of 

 fat. 



Harvesting. The soy plant, when cut at the right stage of growth, 

 makes an excellent hay of high feeding value and this can be used as a 

 home-grown crop to replace the high-priced concentrated feeds which 

 the farmer finds it necessary to purchase. The plant may be cut for hay 

 any time from the setting of the seed until the leaves begin to turn 

 yellow. The plants after being cut should remain in the swath until 

 they begin to wither and should then be raked into windrows before the 

 leaves become dry and brittle and left for a day, or two, when they should 



