THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN. 



727 



the roots may be readily transplanted, and cuttings may 

 also be made to grow. Single plants in cultivation do 

 not seem to mature see(3s, but when plants are grouped, 

 as in the wild state, the seeds mature abundantly. The 

 stems multiply rapidly from the roots, until a single plant 

 will occupy a considerable area. 



There is now quite a demand for this handsome shrub, 

 and for California homes there is no plant more desirable 

 from every standpoint than this big white poppy, with its 

 great satiny, fleecy blossoms and beautiful foliage. For 

 California lawns or gardens it is very desirable, and as a 

 pot-plant for Europe and the east it is eminently success- 

 ful. When quite small it blooms profusely, and though 



it cannot be grown as large in pots as in its native soil 

 and climate, it will amply repay all the labor and care 

 bestowed upon it. 



No picture does full justice to this beautiful flower. 

 Pencils cannot portray the waxen, delicate texture of the 

 petals, or the airy grace of the plant itself. One must 

 go to the cai3ons of Lower California in order to see the 

 Romneya in all its glory. There, far up the mountain 

 sides, away from the reach of any but the most enthu- 

 siastic botanist, the numerous large, white flowers of 

 the California poppy show with startling beauty in the 

 morning sunlight. 



Calif oyjiia. Will M. Clemens. 



THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN*— XVI. 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS 



'he Soy Bean {Glycine hispiJa. 

 Moench); ^nip. ,0-mame .Diadzu . 

 A bush-bean extensively cultiva- 

 ted in all parts of Japan. The 

 plant varies from 1 '2 to 3 feet in 

 height, according to variety and 

 soil, and the varieties, which are 

 numerous, differ much in size, 

 color, time of ripening and the 

 general appearance of their 

 beans. The plant is stocky, stands up well, and is usu- 

 ally branched. The shape and size of the trifoliate leaf- 

 lets vary much in the varieties ; the whole plant is rough, 

 being covered with short, bristly hairs. The flowers are 

 white or reddish ; sepals acutely pointed, hairy ; banner 

 large, emarginate ; wings small, boat-shaped ; keel small ; 

 pods short, thickly covered with rough hair and growing 

 in clusters, each pod containing from two to four beans. 

 The beans are usually more or less lenticulate, some 

 almost globular. 



This vegetable is always grown in rows about two feet 

 apart, and usually as a second crop, the early beans be- 

 ing planted between the rows of wheat and barley, and 

 the late ones immediately after these crops are harvested. 

 After the beans are well up, they are cultivated with the 

 hoe once or twice, and if the soil is poor, enriched with 

 liquid manure, but otherwise they receive no special 

 care The beans are, for the most part, not used until 

 ripe, when they are prepared for food in a multitude of 

 ways Occasionally the green pods, containing nearly 

 full-grown beans, are boiled, and the beans shelled 

 and eat n from the pod. The early varieties mature in 

 from 80 to 100 days, and the late ones in from 100 to 

 120 days. 



Varieties of this bean are. numerous. Probably more 

 than a hundred can be found in the country. Beans of 

 all varieties of this species are in shape intermediate be- 

 tween peas and our common beans. Many of them are 

 nearly round, many are somewhat flattened on two sides, 

 or lentil-shaped, and some are oblong, but never to the 

 same degree that our common beans are elongated. As 



* Copyright hy the autlior. 



to size, they vary from that of duck-shot to a little above 

 very large peas. The size of the hilum and its markings 

 are in many cases characteristic. 



The beans are easily classed, according to color, as 

 white, yellow, black, brown, green and spotted varieties. 

 About 38 sorts that came under special observation I 

 noted down as being worthy of more general culture. 

 Some of these were sent from the Japan Imperial College 

 of Agriculture to the French Exposition in 1889. Four 

 of the varieties have been grown successfully at the 

 Kansas Agricultural College for several years, and may 

 be trusted to mature seed in this latitude. Two other 

 kinds tested here proved failures, because they ripened 

 too late. The successful kinds yielded under field cul- 

 ture last year from 16 to 18 bushels of beans an acre. 

 They promise to become quite valuable in this country, 

 not only for the table but for stock-feed. Soy beans are 

 more nutritious than any other known species of bean. 

 They yield as much nourishment as good beef — pound 

 for pound. Most of the housekeepers who have tried 

 those grown here pronounce them fully equal to the navy 

 bean for table use, and some think them superior. They 

 contain more albumen and less starch than the navy 

 beans, and so do not cook quite so mealy as the latter, 

 but they are fully equal to them in flavor. Their rough 

 and rather tough pods render them unsuited for use in 

 the green state, hence they will not come in competition 

 with wax beans ; but they can compete with the navy 

 beans, and they have doubtless a great future as stock- 

 feed. Not only is the bean itself nutritious, but the en- 

 tire plant is rich in nitrogen. The Japanese as yet con- 

 sume but little meat ; with them the soy bean takes the 

 place of meat, especially with the middle classes. One 

 of their favorite uses of this bean is in the form of 



BEAN-CHEESE, OR TOFU. 



For making bean-cheese the Shiro-manif , or white soy 

 bean, is commonly used. The beans are soaked in cold 

 water for 24 hours, then while still wet they are ground 

 between two small millstones turned by hand, the pro- 

 duct being not flour but a thin paste, which is collected 



