November, 1911.] 



411 



Edible Products. 



commerce are not closed to those who 

 have foresight enough to search for 

 new openings for trade. 



Food for Human Consumption.— The 

 beans form an important article of diet 

 for the Chinese and Japanese, being 

 used in some form or other at almost 

 every meal, and by all classes of people. 

 They are highly nutritious, containing 

 a large amount of edible oil (15 to 20 

 per cent, of the seed) ; they are also 

 very rich in proteids and bone-forming 

 mineral matter-phosphates ; potash and 

 lime are present in large amounts. The 

 most abundant salt in the ash is sodium 

 phosphate. The protein is present in 

 amounts varying from 30 to 42 per cent, 

 of the bean, and is remarkable in that 

 it consists mainly of albumenoids that 

 resemble milk casein in composition 

 and digestibility; in this respect it 

 differs from any other known bean. 



Soy bean milk and sauce preparations, 

 and also the oil, are very nutritious 

 articles of diet. 



A medical point of view is given in 

 the Lancet of 21st January last :— 



On account of the great nutritive 

 value of the Soy Bean, it is well worth 

 medical attention, more particularly 

 for diabetic cases, because of its low 

 proportion of starch. For making bis- 

 cuits, soup powder, infant and other 

 foods, it will be widely used in future 

 when its dietetic value becomes better 

 known. 



Stock Food (Beans and Cake). — "In 

 England, the bean cake is of even more 

 importance than the oil, representing as 

 it does about 80 per cent, of the raw 

 material. The analysis compares very 

 favourably with best cotton seed cake 

 meal. In 1909, the bean cake was sold at 

 £Q 12s. 6d. per ton in London, while 

 cotton seed cake costs £7 10s- to £7 12s. 

 6d. " — Economist. 



Denmark in 1910 sent large orders to 

 Manchuria as the result of the success 

 attained by feeding the soy cake to 

 cows. With regard to its effect on 

 butter, experiments made at the Ciren- 

 cester Royal Agricultural College, Eng- 

 land, show that no particular flavour 

 was detected as a result of feeding soy 

 cake ; and that, compared with cotton 

 cake, the yield of butter was slightly 

 more, and no difference was perceived 

 in laxative effects. On feeding the 

 beans themselves to cows, the butter 

 produced was a trifle soft, but not 

 enough to injure its commercial value, 

 the softness being due probably to the 

 large amount of oil contained in the 

 bean. 



Prom 3 to 4 lbs. of soy beans per day 

 added to the usual dairy ration of hay 

 fodder maize is stated to increase the 

 winter milk yield of the average Kansas 

 cow over 25 per cent. In a series of 

 experiments with pigs in Kansas, — " It 

 was shown that when soy beans are fed 

 with maize, grain, and Kaffir corn for 

 fattening pigs, a saving was made in the 

 amount of feed needed to make 100 lbs. 

 of grain of 13, 24, 31, 33, and 37 per cent., 

 the amount varying in different experi- 

 ments." 



Green Fodder.— Upwards of 13| tons 

 of green fodder were obtained per acre 

 at Cheltenham, and 10 tons per acre at 

 Ballarat. These are the only two in- 

 stances in Victoria where records of 

 tonnage per acre were kept. Cows will 

 readily eat this plant after they become 

 accustomed to the taste. 



For green feed, cut when near the full 

 bloom, as at this period the amont of 

 nutrients is much higher than when cut 

 at other stages of growth. When 

 wanted for hay, cut when the pods are 

 about half filled and dry ; handle the 

 same as pea hay. 



No instance of its use in this State as 

 silage is noted, but in the United States 

 it is often ensiled with green maize, 

 making an excellent succulent food, and 

 being an almost balanced ration. 



Rotation Crop. — In the United States 

 it has been found that the yields of 

 crops of all kinds is increased where 

 they follow soy beans, wheat in large 

 fields showing an increase of 5 bushels per 

 acre over that grown on land alongside 

 that which had not been under beans. 

 Wheat generally follows a nitrogenous 

 crop in the usual rotation schemes on 

 the continent. 



Fertilizer. — The conclusions arrived 

 at after hundreds of experiments in 

 other countries is that, if there are no 

 tubercles on the roots, the growing 

 bean does not add fertility to the soil, 

 but simply makes available for other 

 crops the plant food already in the soil. 

 When the plants are inoculated with 

 tubercles, undoubted increase of fertil- 

 ity will result in the form of available 

 nitrogen to the soil. 



The large quantities of Soy bean cake 

 exported to Japan for use as a fertilizer 

 (600,000 tons in 1909), without any men- 

 tion being made of Japan's own quota, 

 speaks for itself, and this in spite of 

 competition with artificial manures, 

 The Japanese recognize the value of 

 organic manures. 



Australians do not attach enough 

 importance to the value of humus as 

 an element of fertility. There is a 



