78 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



THE SOY BEAN. 



Cultivation and Utilisation. 

 During the present year an important com- 

 mercial development has taken place between 

 this country and Manchuria with reference to 

 the soy bean, the seed of Glycine Soja (Soja 

 hispida). The soy bean is a leguminous plant 

 which grows abundantly in China and espe- 

 cially in Manchuria, where the seeds form an 

 important article of diet and are highly ap- 

 preciated on account of their valuable nutri- 

 tive properties. The occupation of North Man- 

 churia by Russian troops during the Russo- 

 Japanese war created a large demand for pro- 

 visions, whereby agriculture was stimulated 

 and considerable expansion took place. After 

 the close of the war and the withdrawal of the 

 troops, the local demand naturally declined 

 and it became necessary to find an outlet for 

 the crops in foreign markets. From 1906 to 

 1908, much of the staple produce of North 

 Manchuria was exported to Japan through 

 Vladivostoek, but in 1908 the trade suffered 

 owing to the depression in Japan, and towards 

 the end of that year beans and wheat began to 

 be exported on a large scale to Europe. En- 

 ormous quantities of soy beans are now being 

 imported into the United Kingdom and the 

 Continent, 



The first large cargo of soy beans consigned 

 to the United Kingdom arrived in Hull on the 

 2nd March, 1909, and amounted to 5,200 tons. 

 It is stated that before June contracts had 

 been made for the delivery of no less than 

 200,000 tons. The beans are said to arrive at 

 their destination in perfect condition in spite 

 o< the great distance they have to be carried. 

 They are classified into three grades : No. 1, 

 shipped at Dalny; No. 2, shipped at Vladivo- 

 stock; and No. 3, shipped at Hankow. The 

 value of grade No. 1 is about £6 8s per ton 

 gross, c.i.f. European port direct, whilst the 

 values of Nos. 2 and 3 are equal and about £6 

 6s per ton gross, these prices being, of course, 

 subject to the fluctuations of the market. The 

 greater part, if not the whole, of the soy beans 

 imported into this country is purchased by the 

 proprietors of oil-mills, who crush the product 

 and thus obtain a quantity of oil, amounting 

 to about 10 per cent by weight of the seed, and 

 a residual oil-cake which has proved to be a 

 valuable cattle-food. 



Cultivation. 

 The soy bean grows most satisfactorily on 

 soils of medium texture containing fair quant- 

 ities of potash, lime and phosphoric acid. It 

 is said that good results have been obtained 

 on comparatively light soils and that an abun- 

 dant crop is sometimes produced on land too 

 poor for clover. In South Carolina, good re- 

 sults have been obtained on sandy, limestone 

 or marly soils, and also on drained swamp or 

 peaty lands. If the soil is lacking in potash 

 or phosphoric acid, these constituents should 

 be supplied in the form of artificial manure. 

 It iB not necessary to apply nitrogenous 

 manures, since the soy bean, like other legu- 

 minous crops, has the property of extracting 

 nitrogen from the air and thus enriching the 



soil in which it is grown. With regard to cli- 

 mate, the soy bean requires about the same 

 temperature as maize. The plant is very re- 

 sistant to drought, can endure slight frosts, 

 and is capable of withstanding excess of mois- 

 ture ; in this last respect, it is said to surpass 

 cowpeas or even maize. The cultivation of the 

 soy bean is carried out in much the same way 

 as that of ordinary field beans. The soil should 

 be well tilled and left smooth and free from 

 clods. The seed is best sown in drills from 

 two to three feet apart, the exact distance 

 depending on the texture of the soil. The 

 amount of seed required is about one-half to 

 three-quarters of a bushel per acre, enough 

 being sown to give on the average five or six 

 plants per foot in the row. After sowing, the 

 the land must be kept fairly free from weeds 

 and the surface soil must be occasionally 

 broken up. The pods are usually harvested 

 before thoy are quite ripe, as otherwise they 

 are liable to burst on drying, a loss of seed 

 being thus occasioned. The plants may be 

 pulled by hand or cut with a scythe; they 

 are collected into small heaps in order to fac- 

 ilitate drying. When dry, the seed can be 

 readily separated by means of an ordinary 

 threshing machine. 



Under ordinary circumstances, a yield of 22 

 to 40 bushels per aare is obtained, but under 

 specially favourable circumstances the crop 

 may bo considerably larger. 



Glycine Soja is not only of value to cultiva- 

 tors for the sake of its seeds, but it can also 

 be grown for green forage, for ensilage, for 

 hay or as a pasture plant. Reference has al- 

 ready been made to the special value the plant 

 possesses due to its ability to restore im- 

 poverished soil by affording it a supply of 

 nitrogen. It has been found that the earlier 

 varieties are best for seed crops and the later 

 varieties for hay, forage and ensilage. 



Composition of the Seeds. 

 Although there are several varieties of the soy 

 bean, differing in the size, shape and colour of 

 the seeds, there does not appear to be any 

 definite and constant difference in the chemical 

 composition of the latter. The following ana- 

 lyses indicate the usual composition of fresh or 

 airy-dry soy beans. No. 1 gives the results 

 obtained by Professor A H Church with a sam- 

 ple of the beans grown in India. The figures 

 recorded under No. 2, also quoted by Professor 

 Church, were deduced by Dr. Forbes Watson 

 from eight analyses of unhusked soy beans, four 

 of the samples being of Chinese origin, and from 

 two analyses of the husked beans. The results 

 under No. 3 are the averages obtained with 

 several different varieties of soy bean grown in 

 the United States of America, and are taken 

 from the Farmers' Bulletin, to which reference 

 has already been made. 



No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 



Percentage With husk. Husked, 



of 



Water 



Albuminoids 

 Carbohydrates 

 Fat 

 Fibre 

 Aah 



no 



9-1 



10-3 



10-8 



35-3 



40-4 



43-6 



31-0 



2S-0 



25-1 



21-0 



28-9 



18-9 



15-8 



15-5 



16-9 



1-2 



5-2 



1-1 



1-8 



1-6 



1-1 



5-2 



17 



