198 



[March, 1910. 



OILS AND FATS. 



THE SOY BEAN. 



(Prom the Journal of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, Vol. XVI,, No. 9, December, 

 1909.) 



The soy bean, which has recently 

 come into prominence in this eonntry as 

 a feeding stuff, is a native of south- 

 eastern Asia and has long been cultivat- 

 ed in China and Japan. It has also 

 been introduced into India but is not 

 very extensively grown. 



Production in Northern China. — The 

 beans which have been exported to the 

 United Kingdom during the past year 

 have come from Mancuhria through 

 the ports of Dalny, Vladivostoc and 

 Newchwang. There is no very precise 

 information as to the area under culti- 

 vation within reach of the railways, but 

 there is no doubt that the bean is largely 

 grown and, given sufficient inducement, 

 a considerable increase in the supply 

 is likely to take place. 



The total production of beans in 

 Southern Manchuria, which is served by 

 the ports of Dalny and Newchwang, is 

 stated to have been 580,000 tons in 1907, 

 and 830,000 tons in 1908, while in North- 

 ern Manchuria the Vice-Consul reports 

 that the crop in 1908 probably amounted 

 to 900,000 tons, and the prospects for the 

 crop in 1909 indicate a yield larger pos- 

 sibly by 20 per cent. The beans from 

 Northern Manchuria come through 

 Vladivostoc. The spot prices in London 

 on November 25th were reported to be 

 about £7 10s. a ton for soy beans, and 

 £6 2s. 6d. for soy bean cake. The Conti- 

 nental demand is large. 



Composition of Soy Beans. — Yellow, 

 green and black beans are grown in 

 China, and there are varieties of these 

 as well as brown soy beans. According 

 to a number of analyses they usually 

 contain about 35 to 40 per cent, of 

 albuminoids and 10 per cent, or less of 

 oil, but the composition varies according 

 to their origin. The following are 

 some recent aualyses :— 



No. 1. No. 2. No. 3, No. 4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7. 



fc-M c*i a J g*3 fej g*3 



o a mo uo «^ oo £o * o 



— n £ u i3 ^ £ fa 3i. o n 3 k 



j« p, Oft Mo, a o. £Jp, cq p. £ p. 



Moisture ... 10-23 — 11-17 9'91 10'62 — 10-52 



Ash .. 4'32 — 4-36 5 31 4\M — 4-62 



Oil .. 15 62 - 16-76 16-54 18T1 — 17-26 



Albuminoids 37'54 3975 40'46 41-17 37-07 35-42 36'05 



Carbohydrates 27-27 22'30 21M5 22 81 24-46 24 - 68 26 16 



Woody fibre . . 5-02 — 6"80 4-26 5-23 — 5^9 



The analysis of sample No. 1 was made 

 by Mr. S. H. Collins, m.sc, lecturer in 

 Agricultural Chemistry, Armstrong Col- 

 lege, while samples 2 to 7 were analysed 



by Mr. E, S. Edie, M.A., B.sc, Liverpool 



University. The first six were all 



Chinese beans, but No. 7 was grown in 

 West Africa. 



On arrival in this country the oil is 

 extracted from the beans by pressure, 

 and the residue forms the soy bean cake 

 or meal used fur feeding cattle. The 

 proportion of oil left in the cake varies, 

 and its value for fattening purposes 

 will, of course, vary according to its 

 composition in this and other respects. 

 Much of the cake sold is guaranteed to 

 contain 6 per cent, of oil and 4C per 

 cent, of albuminoids ; decorticated cot- 

 ton cake usually contains 7 to 10 per 

 cent, of oil and 45 per cent, of albumin- 

 oids, while the undecorticated cake 

 contains 5 to 6 per cent, of oil and 24 

 per cent, of albuminoids. 



Bean cake is also exported from Man- 

 churia, and as handpresses are common- 

 ly used there, the proportion of oil 

 remaining in the cake is higher. Analy- 

 ses Nos. 1-3 in the following table are 

 given by Mr. Acting Vice-Counsul Gor- 

 don in a report to the Foreign Office 

 ( Annual Series, No. 4372), as represent- 

 ing results obtained from Manchuria 

 bean cake, while the remainder represent 

 soy bean cake made in this country- 

 Analysis No. 4, is by Mr. S. H. Collins ; 

 No. 5 by Professor Kinch of the Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester, and 

 No. 6 by Mr. James Hendrick. 



No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. NO. 5. No. 6. 



pr. ct. pr. ct. pr. cc. pr. ct. pr. ct. pr. ct. 



Water . 17'38 16*90 19-19 13-31 13-0 11-3 



Oily substances .. 9 7 6 9-70 9"18 6-00 7"0 8U 

 Albuminous sub- 

 stances 40-98 41'67 45 00 44'37 42"5 44-9 



Carbohydrates .. 20-73 20-64 15-62 25 04 37*5 23'7 



Fibre, vegetable . . 6-65 6-64 6'23 3-90 5'0 6-2 



Ash 4'60 4-45 478 7'38 5'0 68 



Some of the cake and cake-meal which 

 is being sold has had the oil extracted 

 from it by means of a solvent, instead 

 of by pressure. In such cases only 1£ to 

 2-2 per cent, of oil remains. 



Feeding Experiments with Soy Bean 

 Cake, — Up to the present very few ex- 

 periments on systematic lines have been 

 made with this cake, though it has been 

 extensively used for feeding purposes 

 by farmers. 



One experiment, reported by Professor 

 Gilchrist, of Armstrong College, was 

 carried out at the Cumberland and 

 Westmorland Farm School, and was 

 intended to test the comparative feed- 

 ing value of soy bean cake and decorti- 

 cated cotton cake.. Three cows and 

 three heifers, after their.. first calf, were 

 selected in February, 1909. They were 



