November, 1911.] 



413 



Edible Products, 



Very late— Harchet 20,798, Riceland 

 20,797. 



Cultivation. 



In a general way, any soil that will 

 grow maize will grow soy beans, pro- 

 viding that the soil is not acid in 

 reaction ; a soil of medium texture con- 

 taining lime, potash, phosphoric acid 

 in fair amounts is the most suitable. 

 Good results were obtained on the 

 sandy soil of Cheltenham and on the 

 rather stiff clay hill soil at Lilydale, 

 the potash of the clay being first made 

 available by winter dressing with lime 

 before sowing. If potash and phosphate 

 are lacking, they should be supplied 

 in the form of artificial manure. Nitro- 

 genous manures are not necessary, ex- 

 cept in the case of poor or sandy soils to 

 give the young plants a start. The 

 plant is said to be drought resistant, 

 and to be able to endure slight frosts. 



Experiences is this State show that if 

 too much rain falls- after sowing the 

 seed, and before the plant has had time 

 to thoroughly establish itself, the results 

 are disastrous. The young plants seem 

 to withstand dry weather better than 

 young French beans of the same stage 

 of growth, and their capabilities of 

 withstanding our hot north winds are 

 about the same. No advantage was 

 gained by soaking the seed before sowing 

 the germination taking from 10 to 25 

 days. On stiff soil, I found that the 

 imported seed, giving only 10 per cent, 

 germination by the ordinary sowing, 

 1 in, deep, gave a 90 per cent, germin- 

 ation when shallow 1-in. drills were 

 opened up and the seeds covered with 

 decomposed organic matter (grass) 

 using no soil whatever to cover them. 



Do not sew until the ground becomes 

 warm and all danger of frost is over. 

 No extra growth is got by too early 

 sowing ; the weeds will be harder to 

 keep down, and more cultivation will be 

 necessary. Better results are obtained 

 from drilling than broadcasting. The 

 seeds should be sown thickly enough 

 in the row to give a plant every 4 in. 

 to 6 in., the rows to be 30 in. to 42 in. 

 apart. About half a bushel of seed per 

 acre will be sufficient. In preparing the 

 ground, the soil should be well tilled. 

 After sowing the land must be kept 

 fairly free from weeds, and the surface 

 soil occasionally stirred, but this should 

 not be done when the young plants are 

 wet from dew cr rain. The cultivation 

 should be frequent enough to keep the 

 surface soil loose until the beans begin 

 to bloom. 



Inoculation of the Seed — On new land 

 it is advisable, if possible, to inoculate the 

 seed with soil from an old soy bean field. 



Plants that become inoculated with 

 tubercles give a much better crop of beans 

 than those that are not inoculated. In 

 the United States a number of different 

 methods for inoculation were tried, 

 and the only satisfactory one was found 

 to be placing the infected soil in direct 

 contact with the beans. If the infected 

 soil is sown broadcast or ploughed in, 

 the results obtained are never satis- 

 factory ; 200 lbs. or 300 lbs. of infected 

 soil will be sufficient for one acre, and it 

 is probable that a field once inoculated 

 will always remain inoculated. 



Harvesting Seed. 

 The flowers are either purple or white 

 according to variety and are completely 

 self fertile ; bagged plants set pods as per- 

 fectly as those in the open. The abund- 

 ant pollen of each flower covers the 

 stigma almost as soon as the flower 

 opens. In nearly all varieties the 

 leaves turn yellow as the pods ripen, 

 and most have fallen by the time the 

 pods are mature. On this account 

 it is difficult to cut the crop for grain 

 and save the foliage as well. A very 

 few varieties retain their leaves, an 

 example being the " Wisconsin Black." 

 The pods are in clusters up to five or 

 more, and a single plant may bear 400 

 pods, but the most I have seen is fifty-two. 



There is a continuous succession of 

 varieties from early to very late. With 

 very few exceptions earliness is correl- 

 ated with s^e, the largest varieties 

 being latest. As with the cow pea, 

 early sowing takes a longer time to 

 mature than late sowing. In general, 

 the later the variety, the more is its 

 life period shortened by later sowing. 

 As a general rule, the soy bean, when 

 wanted, for seed, should be cut when 

 the majority of the pods are getting 

 brown in colour and about half the 

 leaves have fallen. Some varieties shed 

 their seed very easily when about ripe, 

 and it is advisable to cut and rake at a 

 time of day when the pods are slightly 

 moist with dew. Rake immediately 

 into small stooks. 



In America, portable frames are used 

 and the cut plants heaped in them, thus 

 insuring a good circulation of air to 

 produce good curing. If the crop is 

 cut and bound, the sheaves are apt to 

 become mouldy. When dry the seed 

 can be readily separated by means 

 of an ordinary threshing machine. 



Soy beans for seed must be kept in 

 thin layers in cool, well ventilated bins. 

 When buying seed, empty the bags as 

 soon as received, and keep the beans 

 spread out in a cool dry place. The best 



