FACTORS OF SUCCESSFUL FARMING NEAR MONETT, MO. 23 
particular kind of bacteria that the cowpea crop requires in order to 
thrive. A few farmers grow a considerable acreage of cowpeas for 
hay. Eelatively few plant cowpeas in their cornfields. But in view of 
the fact that the system of farming which prevails in this region is 
one which does not maintain soil fertility, it is advisable for farmers 
generally to give more attention to the cowpea crop. It has already 
been suggested that it is a good plan to plant the cowpeas with the 
corn at the time the corn is planted. When this is done the roots of 
the cowpeas will leave considerable nitrogen in the soil, and the 
cowpea vines, which will be harvested with the corn fodder, will ulti- 
mately be converted into manure and returned to the soil. In case 
the corn is not to be cut for fodder, it is just as well to plant the cow- 
peas in the corn at the time of the last cultivation of the corn and 
then plow the vines under either early in the winter or the next 
spring. This, of course, is not practicable where wheat is to follow 
corn, but it can be done where corn or any other spring crop follows 
corn. 
The soy-bean crop deserves more attention than it has received 
from farmers in this region. It has been tried frequently here, but 
not always with satisfactory results, for the reason that some farmers 
do not understand its requirements. Cowpeas have been grown in 
America for 150 years, and the soil all over the eastern half of the 
United States appears to be thoroughly inoculated for this crop. 
Soy beans, on the other hand, were brought to this country rather 
recently from Japan and Manchuria. They will not thrive unless 
the soil has the proper kind of bacteria in it, and these bacteria are 
not yet generally spread over the country. Hence, in order to grow 
soy beans successfully the soil must be inoculated for them. 
There are several methods of inoculating the soil for soy beans. 
Soy-bean seed carry some of the inoculating material, but very 
little. If a small patch be planted to soy beans for two or three 
years in succession it will become well inoculated, and the soil from 
this patch may then be used for inoculating any other part of the 
farm where soy beans are to be planted. Another method is to 
moisten the soy-bean seed with water in which a little glue has been 
dissolved, sprinkle a little dirt from a soy-bean field over the seed, let 
it dry, and then plant the seed. Great care must be used in this 
method not to let the sun shine on the seed, for sunlight kills these 
bacteria very quickly. Another method is to use the pure cultures 
of the soy-bean bacteria such as those furnished by the United States 
Department of Agriculture. 
Soy beans have several very distinct advantages over cowpeas. 
The most important is that they ordinarily yield from half as much 
again to twice as much seed per acre as do cowpeas. They can be 
made into hay more easily than cowpeas, and this hay, if fed with a 
