resentatives of the U. S. Regional 

 Soybean laboratory. A conducted tour 

 of the university south farm gave visi- 

 tors an excellent picture of the progress 

 made in developing and improving 

 soybean varieties. 



The Lincoln bean was the star 

 of the show. This variety, devel- 

 oped cooperatively by Dr. C. M. 

 Woodworth, of the U. of I. Ex- 

 periment Station, and representa- 

 tives of the USDA, is recognized 

 as the most outstanding of all soy- 

 bean varieties yet introduced. Be- 

 cause of its better yields and high- 

 er oil content, it has caught the 

 imagination of growers in adapted 

 areas. Prof. J .C. Hackleman indi- 

 ^ t cated that about 8000 acres of Lin- 



coln beans are in production in 

 Illinois this year and the seed will 

 be available for general distribu- 

 tion for the first time in 1945. 



However, Dr. W. B. AUington of 

 the U. S. Regional Soybean laboratory, 

 warned against too extensive use of 

 one soybean variety. "From a pathol- 

 ogist's viewpoint," he said, "extensive 

 planting of one variety is a question- 

 able, procedure since it may provide the 

 setup for a widespread epidemic of dis- 

 ease. 



"Lincoln is a superior variety and rep- 

 resents a brilliant achievement by our 

 agronomists. As far as our experience 

 has gone it has no serious weakness as 

 far as disease susceptibility is con- 

 cerned. It is attacked by all our com- 

 mon diseases but seems to be as re- 

 sistant as any of our varieties." 



In Illinois, Lincoln is adapted to the 

 south central, central and north central 

 sections. It may be grown farther north 

 and farther south than the Illini va- 

 riety. 



In addition to outstanding yield per- 

 formances, about 40 bushels under 

 most favorable conditions, Lincoln has 

 proved resistant to lodging and to shat- 

 tering. 



J. L. Carter, agronomist, U. S. Re- 

 gional Soybean laboratory, reported 

 that the Lincoln now has been crossed 

 with Richland, and the Fl crossed 

 to Lincoln to make ^ variety having 

 75 per cent Lincoln parentage and 25 

 per cent Richland. Lincoln brings to 

 this union a yield 5 bushels per acre 

 higher than the average of Dunfield 

 and Lincoln and oil content better than 

 Dunfield and Scioto, present commer- 

 cial leaders, and 1 per cent above Illi- 

 ni. 



Spectacular damage to soybeans 

 by grasshoppers in certain sections 

 of Illinois was reported by John 

 H. Bigger, associate entomolo- 

 gist of the Illinois Natural History 

 Survey. He said that 40 to 50 tons 

 of grasshopper bait have been 

 used in a few counties in western 

 and southwestern parts of the 

 state, with considerable success, 

 but the losses will run into impor- 

 tant figures. 



Other insects attacking soybeans 

 include: fall webworms, going into 

 soybeans after stripping adjoining 

 hedgerows; grape colaspis. which can 

 be avoided for soybeans by frequent 

 rotations; Japanese beetle, which has 

 not caused any trouble in the Mid- 

 west but is a potential pest of real 

 consequence. 



Prof. R. I. Shawl described experi- 

 ments with the newest types of plant- 

 ing, cultivating and harvesting ma- 

 chinery, including the new four-in-one 

 experimental machine that has been 

 developed for planting corn, plant- 

 ing soybeans, cultivating corn and cul- 

 tivating soybeans. Another modern de- 

 velopment is the self-propelled com- 

 bine which has been produced in limited 

 supply and put on the market by 

 a few companies this season. Argu- 

 ments pro and con on the self-pro- 

 pelled machine were reviewed. Farm- 

 ers viewing the machine expressed the 

 opinion that it would require a large 



C. M. Woodworth, profeaaer of plant gaa- 



•tics, U. oi L, discusses soybcon breeding 



work on South Fonn tour 



L. F. Wiliams, associate agronomist, U. S. 

 Regional Soybean Laboratory, Urbana, ex- 



plains breeding work of the laboratory to 

 soybean producers on South Farm tour. 



acreage of custom harvesting to justify 

 its inherent high cost. 



Considerable interest was shown in 

 the soybean storage experiment being 

 conducted on the agronomy south 

 farm. The project includes 67 storage 

 bins ranging in size from 760 to 2800- 

 bushel capacity and about 60,000 bush- 

 els of soybeans of varying moisture 

 content were stored in them after the 

 1943 harvest. 



With the possibility of greater soy- 

 bean storage on farms in the postwar 

 period, the experiment will prove of 

 great value to farmers. Soybeans hav- 

 ing a moisture content of 10 to 12 per 

 cent probably are best for safe storage, 

 according to the results so far, al- 

 though it was pointed out more re- 

 search is needed to establish exactly 

 safe limits. 



Pioneers in the field of soybean pro- 

 duction were honored at the meeting 

 by Prof. J. C. Hackleman, who ex- 

 pressed the regret felt by those as- 

 sembled that Dr. W. L. Burlison, head 

 of the agronomy department, was un- 

 able to attend because of illness. Dr. 

 Burlison, who served as 1930 presi- 

 dent of the American Soybean Associ- 

 ation, is recognized by soybean old 

 timers as one of their fellow pioneers. 

 W. E. Riegel, Champaign county pio- 

 neer soybean producer, traced the early 

 history of the soybeans. He was the 

 association's second president. Wheeler 

 McMillan, editor of Farm Journal and 

 Farmers' Wife, and Donald S. Payne, 

 office of distribution, WFA, were prin- 

 cipal speakers at the main evening ses- 

 sion of the meeting. 



Howard Roach, Plainfield, la., was 

 elected president to succeed J. E. John- 

 son, Champaign county, and Walter Mc- 

 Laughlin, Decatur, Macon county, was 

 named vice-president, succeeding Roach 

 in this position. 



OCTOBER, 1944 



It 



