Edible Products. 



414 



[November, 1911. 



of seed, if kept in bags till sowing time, 

 may heat sufficiently to destroy its 

 growing powers. 



Experiments in Victoria. 



In 1909 a quantity of seed was im- 

 ported from America. The variety was 

 not known. In some districts, plants 

 from this seed grew very well, notably 

 at Lilydale on clay soil, making a uni- 

 form growth of 48 in. and having a 

 strong upright stem. It was evidently 

 a good variety for hay, but bore only a 

 medium crop of beans. The ripe pods 

 did not burst easily, and stood exposure 

 in the field. At Heidelberg, this variety 

 had only medium success. The germin- 

 ation was low, owing to heavy rain 

 rotting the seed which was soaked 

 before sowing. The unsoaked seed also 

 suffered from the prolonged rains and 

 the plants never properly recovered. 

 The seed was sown on 4th October and 

 required twenty days to appear above 

 ground. The pods ripen unevenly and 

 were not ready to harvest until 1st May, 

 the resulting seed being much smaller 

 than the original. No tubercles were 

 found cn the roots. At Caulfield, in 

 sandy soil, the seed germinated well, but 

 the plants were eventually ploughed in 

 as green manure. 



In September, 1910, a consignment was 

 received by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture from Shanghai, through Mr. J. M. 

 Sinclair, Commercial Agent for "Victoria 

 in the East. From this consignment of 

 one variety a number of seeds differing 

 from the bulk in shape or colour were 

 handpicked. These were grown separ- 

 ately at Cheltenham. They were sown 

 on 10th October, and were cut for green 

 fodder on 27th February. The following 

 yields were obtained : — 



Variety. Yield per acre. 



Tons. Cwts. lbs. 

 Ito San (Yellow) ... 12 8 54 

 Baird (brown) ... 13 10 10 

 Brownie (brown) ... 11 6 98 

 Guelph (green) ... 11 6 98 



By the accompanying illustrations* it 

 will be seen that some varieties grow 

 luxuriantly at Cheltenham. The soil is 

 very sandy with a clay subsoil. The 

 seeds were sown in drills 3^ feet apart 

 on the 10th October, and 98 per cent, of 

 the seeds of the varieties mentioned 

 germinated in ten days, The land was 

 kept clean for the first two months by 

 inter-tillage. When photographed, the 

 plants were from 3 to 5 ft. in height, 

 with abundance of pods and leaves. 



Experiments were also conducted at 

 Ballarat, Bellaiine, Heidelberg, Lilydale 



* Not reproduced. 



and other centres throughout the State. 

 Although a moderate amount of success 

 was achieved further experiment will be 

 necessary, With that object in view 

 the Department of Agriculture has 

 recently imported a large quantity of 

 seed for distribution. 



Probable Causes op Failure. 

 Every new plant has its peculiarities, 

 its likes and dislikes as to soil, depth of 

 sowing, and susceptibility to climatic 

 conditions, so these may vary from each 

 particular variety of soy bean. Until 

 we can find out what varieties are best 

 suited to those varying conditions we 

 must not condemn this bean. Other 

 countries, for instance, the United 

 States, underwent similar experiences, 

 and for a long time the soy bean was 

 much decried. Some of the likely causes 

 of failures in Victoria will now be dealt 

 with. 



(1.) Bad Germination. — It has been 

 proved that seeds rich in both oil and 

 proteids are very susceptible of having 

 their germinative powers destroyed by 

 sweating and heating. As the seeds 

 had naturally to be imported, the result 

 was often a very poor stand or none at 

 all. I have proved this for the last 

 three years, the acclimatized and fresh 

 seeds in every case giving a germin- 

 ation of 95 to 100 per cent- Seed more 

 than one year old. and imported seed 

 that has sweated in transit, are pri- 

 marily the cause of bad germination. 

 Until there is a sufficiency of locally 

 grown seed to distribute to the farmers 

 discouraging reports as to germination 

 results will continue to be received. 



(2.) Variety.— So far there has been no 

 choice of variety. Some varieties are 

 totally unsuited for this State, although 

 succeeding elsewhere, notably the Buck- 

 shot and Mammoth. The former was 

 found to be the hardiest for North 

 Queensland and with opposite results in 

 this State. 



(3.) Alkalinity of the Soil.— It must be 

 borne in mind that many of the legu- 

 minous plants depend for their success- 

 ful growth on the presence of the right 

 kind of bacteria in the soil, and on new 

 soil there is often considerable difficulty 

 in getting the soy plant inoculated 

 with tubercles of nitrifying bacteria. 

 By growing this bean for three or four 

 years in succession on the same soil 

 inoculation' is almost sure to result, 

 provided the soil is not acid in reaction. 

 My opinion is that the nitrifying bac- 

 teria necessary for the good growth 

 of any papillionaceous plants are all 

 essentially of the same race, with this 



