October, 190S.J 



329 



Edible Products. 



per acre. Taking 8 tons as an average 

 yield, the amount ot dry matter will be 

 about 2 tons, of which about 54 per cent, 

 is digestible. This will make the 

 digestible matter raised on an acre of 

 ground amount to nearly ^ tons. Of 

 this amount about one-sixth is protein 

 or muscle-making material, and about 

 three-fourths crude fibre and other fat- 

 forming substances. 



Soy-bean meal has a high percentage 

 of digestibility. It contains almost two 

 and a half times as much digestible 

 protein and over five times as much 

 digestible fat as the common roller- 

 process wheat bran, and its digestibility 

 is decidedly higher in everything but 

 the fat than that of cotton-seed meal. 



Value and Uses as a Soiling Crop. 



One of the most important uses of the 

 soy bean is for green forage. The great 

 variation in the season of maturity of 

 the various varieties makes it possible 

 to have a succession of forage lasting 

 throughout a great part of the summer 

 and autumn. Wherever tried it has prov- 

 ed a most valuable forage for milk pro- 

 duction. At the Massachusetts Station 

 soy bean fodder gave excellent results 

 in every combination tried. A ration of 

 grain soy bean and hay gave better 

 results in five out of six cases than a 

 ration of grain, vetch, oats, and hay, and 

 also exceeded grain and rowen hay. In 

 another experiment, in which vetch, oats, 

 fodder corn and soy bean were fed in 

 connection with corn meal, gluten meal, 

 and wheat bran or dried brewers' grains, 

 the soy bean made a remarkably fine 

 showing, especially when fed with the 

 dried brewers' grains. This ration gave 

 the largest average flow of milk in every 

 case. The quality of the milk also im- 

 proved. This clearly shows the addition 

 of soy bean fodder to the ration of milk 

 cows will have. a beneficial effect upon 

 both the quantity and the quality of 

 the milk. It tends to promote a narrow- 

 er nutritive ratio, and hence makes a 

 more profitable ration for the production 

 of milk and butter. Soy bean and sor- 

 ghum make an excellent combination for 

 green fodder ; the former is rich in the 

 muscle-making elements and the latter 

 in the fat-forming ones. Both make 

 large yields of forage per acre, and both 

 will thrive under a great variety of soil 

 and climatic conditions. These crops 

 are among the best that can be recom- 

 mended for dairymen throughout a large 

 portion of the United States. 



As a Silage Crop. 

 A number of the State Experiment 

 Stations have conducted experiments in 

 making and feeding soy bean ensilage, 



42 



and the results have been quite satis- 

 factory. By using the larger, coarser- 

 crowing varieties a heavy yield of for- 

 age may be obtained. The silage keeps 

 well, is eaten l'eadily by stock, and the 

 animals show good resurlts in flesh or 

 milk production. Again, the crop is an 

 easy one to put into the silo as compared 

 with some others that are often used for 

 this purpose. 



There are a number of reasons why 

 the soy bean can usually be more profit- 

 ably ensiled than cured for hay. The 

 ensilage is more palatable than the hay 

 and can be fed with much less waste. 

 There is also usually less loss in cutting 

 the crop and putting it into the silo, 

 owing to the liability of the leaves to 

 fall off during the process of curing and 

 storing the hay. Furthermore, the 

 plants can be ensiled at any time from 

 early blooming to early maturity with 

 fairly good results, while, if cutting for 

 hay is delayed much after the pods are 

 well formed, the quality may be con- 

 siderably impaired by the stems becom- 

 ing woody and unpalatable. 



Excellent results are obtained by mak- 

 ing a mixed ensilage of soy bean and 

 corn, millet, or other crops rich in fat- 

 forming nutrients but poor in muscle- 

 makers. The one supplies what the 

 other lacks, and thus a more evenly 

 balanced ration is obtained. All things 

 considered, corn is the best crop that 

 can be used with the soy bean for mak- 

 ing such a mixed silage. In filling the 

 silo tbe corn and beans may be put 

 down in alternate layers, and whatever 

 further mixing may be necessary can 

 be done when the ensilage is fed out to 

 the stock. Professor Phelps, of the 

 Connecticut (Storrs) Experiment Station, 

 recommends this mixed silage very high- 

 ly as an economical feed for farm and 

 dairy stock. 



As a Hay Crop^ 



There can be no question as to the 

 high feeding value of hay made from 

 soy bean, cut in the right season and 

 properly cured and preserved. Even 

 when the cutting is delayed until the 

 seed is mature enough to harvest, the 

 stem and leaves contain sufficient diges- 

 tible substances to be of considerable 

 value for forage. Unless the plants are 

 cut in the proper season, however, much 

 of the value of the forage will be lost on 

 account of the woody character of the 

 stems and the falling off of the leaves. 

 It is, therefore, the best plan to ensile 

 the crop if it becomes too mature before 

 it can be cut. On account of its coarse- 

 ness the hay is not eaten so readily as 

 that of many other legumes, butthis may 



