VOL.  LI.  No.  2232. 
NEW  YORK,  NOVEMBER  5,  1892. 
PRICE,  FIVE  CENTS. 
$2.00  PER  YEAR. 
Notes  from  the  Rural  Grounds. 
JAPAN  BEANS. 
A  dozen  years  ago  or  thereabouts  The  Rural,  New- 
Yorker  raised  one  variety  of  the  Soy  or  Soja  Bean 
from  Japan.  The  report  was  that  our  cattle  and 
horses  preferred  green  clover  to  green  Soy  leaves  ; 
that  the  plants  were  difficult  to  cure,  because  the 
leaves  became  black  and  papery  before  the  tough, 
succulent  stems  could  be  dried.  Last  year  Prof.  C.  C. 
Georgeson,  now  of  the  Kansas  Agricultural  College, 
but  recently  from  Japan,  was  kind  enough  to  send  us 
three  varieties  of  the  Soy  Bean  and  two  other  Japan 
beans,  called  respectively,  Black  and  White  Podded 
Adzuki — Phaseolus  radiatus,  botani- 
cally.  All  were  planted  May  3. 
Prof.  Georgeson  wrote,  at  the  time 
of  sending  the  beans,  that  the 
Japanese  boil  the  Black  Podded 
Adzuki  when  ripe  and  eat  them  with 
rice.  “  Even  the  raw  beans,”  he 
said,  “have  a  pleasant  taste.” 
The  Soy  Beans  are  used  both  ripe 
and  green,  in  the  latter  case  “boiled 
in  the  pods  when  nearly  full  grown 
and  shelled  and  eaten  at  the  meal.” 
July  19,  we  fed  the  Soy  leaves  and 
stems  to  two  horses.  One  seemed  to 
relish  them,  eating  the  stems  as 
readily  as  the  leaves,  with  relish. 
The  other  did  not  care  for  either 
stems  or  leaves. 
July  28,  a  lot  of  each  kind  was  cut 
and  partly  cured  in  the  sun.  Both 
horses  seemed  to  relish  all  kinds 
and  ate  the  stems  which  were 
tough  and  woody.  The  stems  were 
still  green,  the  leaves  somewhat 
blackened. 
September  1,  both  the  Soys  and 
Phaseolus  were  boiled.  The  latter 
were  inferior  to  most  beans ;  the 
Soys  were  hard  and  worthless. 
description. 
No.  1.  Phaseolus  radiatus — Black 
Podded  Adzuki.  Yellow  flower. 
Resembles  cow  peas.  July  28,  plants 
two  feet  high  and  bushy.  General 
appearance  that  of  the  Soys.  Not 
yet  in  bloom.  August  28.  Cut  this 
date.  Leaves  just  beginning  to  turn 
yellow.  A  few  of  the  beans  ripen¬ 
ing.  They  are  borne  in  small  clus¬ 
ters  of  one,  two  and  three  or  more — 
usually  about  three.  They  are  about 
four  or  five  inches  long  and  less  than 
a  half  inch  in  diameter,  holding 
about  10  seeds  which  entirely  fill  the 
pod  in  a  most  uniform  and  regular 
manner.  The  seed  is  a  dark,  dull 
crimson.  The  pods  are  perfectly  smooth  and  shell  out 
as  readily  as  snap  beans. 
The  beans  grow — as  do  the  cow  “peas” — upon 
petioles  of  varying  length,  from  two  or  three  to  six 
inches  in  length. 
No.  2,  Phaseolus  radiatus — White  Podded  Adzuki. 
Bright  yellow  flowers.  July  28,  plants  not  so  tall  as 
No.  1.  Cut  August  28,  leaves  just  beginning  to  turn 
yellow  as  on  No.  1.  A  few  of  the  beans  ripening. 
The  beans  are  borne  in  small  clusters  as  in  No.  1.  and 
of  the  same  size  and  color. 
No.  3.  Glycine  hispida.  Yellow  Soja  Beans.  July 
25,  height  three  feet,  bushy.  Hairy  stems  and 
leaves;  leaves  four  inches  in  length,  widely  ovate, 
some  heart-shaped.  The  largest  petal  (vexillum)  is 
purple  ;  the  others  (wings  and  keel)  small  and  white. 
No.  4.  Glycine  hispida — Soja  Beans — Kyusuke  Daid- 
zu.  The  seeds  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  No.  3. 
Height  of  plant,  three  feet  four  inches.  Does  not 
bloom  as  early  as  the  other  Sojas.  Bushy  plants. 
No.  5.  Glycine  hispida  —  Soja  Beans,  Edamane. 
Flowers  small  and  white.  Seeds  larger  than  those  of 
either  No.  3  or  4  ;  as  large  as  early  smooth  peas,  rather 
longer  one  way  than  the  other  and  light  green  in 
color  ;  oval,  hard  and  smooth.  Leaves  not  quite  so 
heavy  as  those  of  No.  3.  Same  size. 
No.  6.  Glycine  hispida,  Soja  Beans.  Yamagata  Cha- 
Daidzu.  The  seeds  are  brown  in  color  and  as  large  as 
late  wrinkled  peas,  but  oval  and  smooth.  The  plants 
bear  more  leaves  and  they  are  larger  than  those  of  Nos. 
4  or  5.  Blooms  somewhat  later. 
TRUE  VALUE  OF  THE  SOJA  BEAN. 
NORTH,  EAST,  WEST,  SOUTH. 
Will  it  Come  into  General  Use? 
These  questions  were  sent  to  the  directors  of  all  the 
stations  in  the  country  : 
1.  After  your  experience  with  the  Soja  Bean  as  a  forage  crop,  do  you 
consider  It  of  enough  value  to  urge  the  farmers  of  your  State  to  ex¬ 
periment  with  It? 
2.  How  does  It  compare  In  yield,  cost  of  culture  and  harvesting  and 
value  for  stock  food  with  clover? 
3.  What  Is  the  best  way  to  cultivate  and  cure  It? 
4.  What  Is  Its  rank  as  a  silo  crop  and  Is  It  best  suited  for  the  silo? 
5.  Will  It  come  into  general  use  In  your  State? 
The  following  typical  replies  cover  the  four  sections 
of  the  country.  Others  on  the  same 
subject  will  follow  later : 
Vermont  too  far  North  for  it. 
The  Soja  Bean  has  been  but  little 
tested  at  this  station.  The  whole  of 
Vermont  is  too  far  north  to  make  it 
worth  while  to  attempt  to  raise  it. 
Either  corn  or  clover  is  away  ahead 
of  it  as  a  fodder  crop  or  for  the  silo. 
We  have  rather  gone  back  on  Prick¬ 
ly  Comfrej’.  We  had  no  trouble  in 
raising  enormous  crops  of  it  or  in 
getting  our  stock  to  eat  it,  but  the 
labor  of  cutting  it  by  hand  more 
than  over-balanced  all  its  good  qual¬ 
ities,  and  we  finally  gave  it  up. 
Vermont  Station,  w.  w.  cooke. 
Not  Much  Use  for  New  York. 
The  Soja  Bean  is  not  well  suited 
to  most  places  in  our  Northern  cli¬ 
mate  ;  at  least  it  has  not  proved  to 
be  a  success  with  us.  We  have  ni¬ 
trogenous  plants  which  are  so  much 
more  certainly  and  easily  raised 
than  this,  that  I  would  net  think 
for  a  moment  of  cultivating  it  for  a 
forage  plant.  As  to  the  cost  of  cul¬ 
ture  and  harvesting  in  comparison 
with  clover,  no  comparison  whatever 
can  be  made.  We  have  not  had  op¬ 
portunity  to  harvest  and  cure  this 
plant  to  such  an  extent  as  to  learn 
how  it  should  best  be  done.  I  doubt 
if  it  would  be  a  good  plant  to  put  in 
the  silo,  because  all  highly  nitro¬ 
genous  plants  are  hard  to  preserve 
in  the  silos,  as  now  made. 
N.  Y.  Station.  i.  p.  Roberts. 
Japanese  Soja  Bean — Glycine  Hispida.  Fig.  277. 
The  Soja  pods  bristle  with  hairs  and  the  skin  is 
rough.  There  are  two  seeds  to  a  pod  about  the  size 
of  a  Sieva.  The  pods  do  not  open  readily  when  green. 
The  plants  are  very  prolific,  far  more  so  than  the 
Phaseolus  radiatus  (No’s.  1  and  2).  The  Sojas  bear 
two  to  five  beans  at  every  joint,  or  upon  short  petioles 
growing  out  of  the  axils,  as  shown  in  our  illustration 
from  nature.  Fig.  278,  see  page  722,  is  a  photo-illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  Phaseolus  radiatus,  life  size. 
As  to  the  future  of  the  Soja  Bean,  we  need  not 
speculate.  Other  writers  who  have  raised  it  and 
studied  it,  favor  us  with  their  views  in  this  number, 
and  from  these  an  idea  of  its  possible,  if  not  its  proba¬ 
ble,  economical  value  as  compared  with  other  legumes 
may  be  gleaned.  It  will  be  noted  that  Prof.  Emery 
mentions  that  nodules  form  on  the  roots  of  Soja  plants 
as  they  do  on  those  of  clover. . 
Not  Much  Chance  in  Connecticut. 
Our  idea  of  the  Soja  Bean  as  a  for¬ 
age  crop  may  be  expressed  in  the 
following  extract  from  a  bulletin 
which  is  in  preparation  :  “The  Soja 
Bean  makes  a  tall,  slender  growth 
and  is  not  as  succulent  and  leafy 
as  the  cow  pea.  It  should  be  sown  about  May  20,  and 
from  our  experience  appears  to  need  a  fertile  soil  for 
the  best  results.  The  plants  have  made  a  slow  growth 
and  each  season  the  foliage  has  been  of  a  pale  yellow 
color.  The  yield  in  1889  was  9  tons  and  in  1892  6.4 
tons  per  acre.  The  fodder  has  been  well  eater  by 
milch  cows,  but  the  yields  have  been  lighter  than  or 
cow  peas,  and  from  the  table  of  fodder  analyses  it  vill 
be  seen  that  it  is  not  as  rich  in  protein.  Both  of  these 
crops  are  ready  for  feeding  at  about  the  same  time, 
and  from  our  experience  the  cow  pea  is  to  be  preferred.” 
It  does  not  seem  to  me  practicable  to  compare  the 
Soja  Bean  with  clover,  since  the  plants  mature  at  such 
very  different  times  unless  it  is  to  be  used  for  winter 
feeding.  Maturing  as  late  as  it  does,  it  is  a  difficult 
crop  to  cure  as  hay,  but  it  is  well  adapted  for  the 
silo,  though  from  our  experience,  as  stated  above,  the 
