8 
BULLETIN 439, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
North Carolina is about 25 bushels , although many fields produce 35 
bushels or more to the acre. 
The growing and handling of soy beans are accomplished almost 
entirely by machinery in this country, the ordinary farm equipment 
meeting all the requirements of this crop. In large bean-growing 
districts, special harvesters for gathering the seed in the field are 
used quite successfully. The cost of production varies from $7.50 to 
$12 per acre, depending on the methods employed in growing and 
handling the crop. The market price per bushel of seed for sowing 
purposes varies in different sections, ranging from $1 in large seed- 
prodrcing sections of the South to $2 or $3 a bushel in the Central 
and Middle States. 
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Fig. 2.— Outline map of the United States, showing by double hatching the area to which the soy bean 
is especially adapted for growing for oil production. The area where the soy bean is less certain of profit- 
able production for oil purposes is shown by single lines. 
The first extensive work in the United States with the soy bean 
as an oil seed was entered upon about 1910 by an oil mill on the 
Pacific coast. The beans, containing from 15 to 19 per cent of oil, 
were imported from Manchuria, and the importations, most of 
which are used in the manufacture of oil and cake, have gradually 
increased, as shown in Table V. The oil was extracted with hydraulic 
presses, using the same methods employed with cottonseed and 
linseed. It found a ready market, as a good demand had been 
created for this product by soap and paint manufacturers, which 
up to this time had been supplied by importation from Asiatic 
countries and England. The soy cake, ground into meal, was 
placed on the market under a trade name and was soon recognized 
as a valuable feed by dairymen and poultrymen. The use of the 
