586 



SOYBEAN 



SPICE-PRODUCING PLANTS 



part of soybeans is mixed in the silo with two 

 parts of corn, the average protein content of the 

 resulting silage is increased from 2 per cent with 

 corn silage to about 2.7 per cent for the mixed 

 silage. 



As a land renovator. — Like the other legumes 

 bearing tubercles, the soybean plant assimilates the 

 nitrogen of the soil air, and thus may improve the 

 nvtrogen content of the land. For this purpose, the 

 large varieties are most satisfactory. When the 

 entire growth is plowed under or pastured, the in- 

 crease in the succeeding crop of wheat or oats has 

 been very large at the Alabama Experiment Station, 

 while the plowing under of the stubble alone has 

 increased to a moderate extent the yield of the suc- 

 ceeding crop. The analyses on record seem to indi- 

 cate that soybeans usually contain more nitrogen 

 to the acre than a crop of cowpeas, but that the 

 stubble of an acre of soybeans contains a smaller 

 amount of nitrogen than the stubble of cowpeas. 

 This is doubtless due to the thinner planting of 

 soybeans, to the smaller number of leaves dropped 

 and to the smaller number of branches that escape 

 the harvesting machine. 



At Port Hays, Kansas, the yield of wheat fol- 

 lowing wheat was 12.33 bushels, while following 

 soybeans removed for grain the yield was 15.78 

 bushels per acre. At the Michigan Experiment 

 Station, rye yielded 13 per cent more grain where 

 soybeans had just been plowed under than where 

 buckwheat. had been plowed under. At the Massa- 

 chusetts Experiment Station, the stubble of soybean 

 was decidedly inferior to that of red clover for soil 

 improvement. [See page 214.] 



As human food. — As human food the soybean 

 has not come into general use in Europe and 

 America, but it is extensively used for this pur- 

 pose in Japan, where soybean dishes supplement 

 the usual rice diet. Lang^^orthy gives the method 

 of preparation of a number of Japanese dishes 

 made from soybeans, with analyses of each food. 

 Generally, the seeds are boiled for a long period 

 and then subjected to fermentation. 



Enemies. 



The soybean is relatively free from insect in- 

 juries. The seeds are not eaten by weevils or 

 other granary insects. Rabbits are the worst 

 enemy of the young plants, and a sufficient area 

 must be planted for both farmer and rabbits. The 

 crop is not attacked by chinch-bugs, and insect 

 enemies of the foliage are not numerous or seri- 

 ous. Garman (Kentucky Experiment Station, Re- 

 port 1902) lists the following insects as attacking 

 the foliage in Kentucky, but apparently none of 

 them has done serious harm : Grasshoppers, a red- 

 dish brown hairy caterpillar (Spilosoma Virginica), 

 and grubs of a small beetle {Odontota sp.). He 

 also found on the roots of a few plants the bean 

 root-louse {Tyehea phaseoli). Nematode root-worms 

 (Heterodera radicicola) next to rabbits constitute 

 the principal animal enemy of the soybean on cer- 

 tain old sandy fields in the Gulf states. 



Among vegetable parasites, the most serious 

 pest of soybeans at Auburn, Alabama, is a sclero- 



tium disease which forms white threads over the 

 stem just below the ground and whitish to brown- 

 ish tiny, spherical masses clustered around the stem 

 at the surface of the ground. The plant attacked 

 by this disease is killed at any time between early 

 growth and the period of pod formation. 



Literature. 



Alabama College Experiment Station, Bulletins 

 Nos. 114 and 123; Alabama Canebrake Experi- 

 ment Station, Bulletin No. 20 ; Connecticut (Storrs) 

 Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 22; Delaware 

 Experiment Station, Bulletins Nos. 60 and 61 ; 

 Georgia Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 17 ; In- 

 diana Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 108; Kansas 

 Experiment Station, Bulletins Nos. 18, 92, 100 and 

 123 ; Report 1889 ; Kentucky Experiment Station, 

 Bulletins Nos. 98 and 125 ; Report 1902 ; Louisi- 

 ana Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 8 ; Massa- 

 chusetts Experiment Station, Bulletins Nos. 7 and 

 18 ; Michigan Experiment Station, Bulletins Nos. 

 224 and 227 ; North Carolina Experiment Station, 

 Bulletin No. 73 ; South Carolina Experiment Star 

 tion. Report 1889 ; Virginia Experiment Station, 

 Bulletin No. 145; United States Department of 

 Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 58 and 121. 



SPICE-PRODUCING PLANTS. 



By R. H. True. 



It is somewhat difficult to separate spices from 

 other aromatic flavoring agents, such as anise 

 seed and bay leaves. As a rule, however, spices 

 have a sharp, pungent taste modified by other 

 flavors characteristic of each sort. Most of them 

 are used in a ground state, owing to the necessity 

 of using them in small quantities because of the 

 intensity of the taste-sensations which they im- 

 part. Many aromatic products are much milder and 

 can be used in a whole state without the develop- 

 ment of too powerful sensations. These more 

 powerful flavoring agents, by common usage known 

 as spices, are here briefly discussed. 



Botanical sources. 



The common spices are derived from almost as 

 many botanical families as there are spices, and 

 nearly all products here concerned are of tropical 

 origin. The Banana family {Scitaminacem) includes 

 a series of perennial, herbaceous, rather succulent 

 plants, having strong flavoring properties distrib- 

 uted more or less widely throughout the plant, as 

 ginger, turmeric {Curcuma) and cardamons. The 

 Nutmeg family (Myristicaeece) furnishes nutmegs 

 and mace, products derived from the fruit of the 

 nutmeg tree. The Myrtle family (Myrtacece) sup- 

 plies two of our most important spices, — cloves and 

 allspice or pimento. The Laurel family (Lauraeex) 

 yields cinnamon bark and cassia buds, products of 

 a number of species of the genus Cinnamomum. 

 Black and white pepper are derived from the same 

 plant. Piper nigrum, a member of the Pepper 

 family (Piperaeem). Red pepper is not a member 

 of the Pepper family, belonging, rather, to the 

 Potato family {Solanaeeoe). [See under Medicinal, 



