OTHER LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 23. 



make it worth while to apply those ingredients before 

 planting the crop. Nor should it be planted on soils 

 in which hardpan comes near the surface, since in 

 such instances the roots which naturally feed deeply 

 could not easily penetrate the soil. Swamp lands 

 well drained, produce an abundant growth, especially 

 of stems and leaves, hence these are specially adapted 

 to growing soy beans for soiling food. 



Even peat soils, under certain conditions, may 

 be made to produce paying crops, and owing to the 

 excellent drouth-resisting properties of the plant, it 

 may be grown on soils too deficient in moisture for 

 the successful growth of the cowpea. But it is not 

 wise to grow it on soils already rich in nitrogen. To 

 do so would be a waste of that very important ele- 

 ment of fertility. 



Place in the Rotation. — Since the soy bean must 

 be grown m warm weather, where it is to be grown 

 at all, its place in the rotation is all the more easily 

 defined. Since the soy bean may be grown with 

 highest success when given cultivation, it should gen- 

 erally be grown as a cleaning crop; since it is a 

 legume and has much power to increase the nitrogen 

 content in the soil, it should precede gram crops; 

 and since it can make progress amid heat and during 

 dry weather it may frequently be grown as a catch 

 crop. It will, therefore, naturally follow such crops 

 as have been grown in southern latitudes to provide 

 autumn, winter and early, spring pasture, as winter 

 rye, winter oats and winter barley; and this plant 

 may be made to follow grain crops that have been 

 harvested at maturity, as, for instance, rye, winter 

 wheat or winter oats ; and it may even be made to 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



