1514 
7ht  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
December  15,  1923 
Sensible  Talk  About  Soy  Beans 
.SOIL  BUILDER.— My  first  experi¬ 
ence  in  growing  Soy  beans  as  a  sepa¬ 
rate  crop  was  in  1917.  Since  then  I 
have  grown  them  every  year,  grow¬ 
ing  from  four  to  five  acres  up  to  50 
acres  per  year  as  a  separate  crop, 
and  40  to  00  acres  in  corn.  In  March,  1917,  I  came 
into  control  of  35  acres  of  land  which  by  years  of 
bad  treatment  was  sadly  depleted  in  fertility;  so 
much  so  that  about  one-third  of  it  seemed  entirely 
unfit  to  grow  corn.  There  was  no  grass  of  any  kind 
on  this  part,  and  to  get  it  started  on  the  way  to  re¬ 
covery,  I  planted  it  to  Soy  beans,  duly  inoculated 
with  the  proper  bacteria.  It  was  a  bad  season  in 
almost  every  way,  and  the  crop  was  almost  a  fail¬ 
ure;  barely  enough  to  pay  expenses.  The  rest  of  the 
tract  (very  much  the  best  part)  was  grown  to  corn. 
At  the  end  of  the  season  both  corn  and  Soy  beans 
were  harvested  and  removed  from  the  field,  the  land 
well  prepared  and  sown  to  wheat.  To  test  the  value 
of  Soy  beans  as  a  soil  builder,  four  or  five  acres  of 
the  Soy  bean  ground  and  a  similar  amount  of  the 
adjacent  corn  ground  were  selected  and  sown  to 
wheat  the  same  day,  driving  crosswise  of  the  two 
plots,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  each  received  the  same 
treatment  and  the  same  amount  of  seed  and  fertil¬ 
izer  per  acre.  They  were  harvested  and  thrashed 
separately.  The  wheat  of  each  tract  was  taken  at 
machine  measure,  and  the  land  of  each  tract  sepa¬ 
rately  measured.  The  results  were  as  follows: 
der  such  conditions.  They  keep  the  land  occupied, 
improve  its  quality  and  make  a  highly  valuable  pro¬ 
tein  feed,  which  is  greatly  relished  by  all  kinds  of 
live  stock. 
LIMITATIONS  AS  PASTURE.— Except  when 
grown  in  corn,  or  after  wheat  or  oats  has  been  har¬ 
vested  and  the  land  is  not  set  in  grass  or  clover,  I 
would  not  recommend  them  for  pasture,  since  other 
crops,  such  as  rape,  will  produce  far  more  forage 
and  do  it  quicker,  thus  affording  a  much  longer 
period  for  pasturing  than  the  Soy  beans. 
YIELD  OF  SEED.— As  to  the  yield,  it  is  difficult 
to  state.  It  depends  so  much  on  the  variety,  the 
soil,  the  season,  the  time  of  planting,  and  other  con¬ 
ditions,  that  one  can  hardly  name  a  standard  yield. 
While  the  Soy  beans,  when  inoculated,  will  grow  and 
yield  fairly  well  on  almost  any  soil,  it  does  much 
better  on  good  rich  soil,  and  while  it  will  stand  more 
dry  weather  and  more  wet  weather  than  any  other 
crop  I  know,  it  does  its  best  in  a  favorable  season. 
The  different  varieties  also  differ  in  yields,  some 
yielding  more  than  twice  as  much  as  others.  They 
should,  however,  yield  anywhere  from  eight  to  35 
bushels  of  seed  per  acre,  according  to  conditions. 
Good  varieties  should  yield  about  as  much  as  wheat, 
and  be  a  much  surer  crop,  since  they  as  yet  have  few 
if  any  insect  enemies  or  fungus  diseases  and,  being 
a  Spring-sown  crop,  they  do  not  have  to  undergo  the 
danger  of  winter-killing.  A  good  hay  variety  should 
yield  from  one  to  three  tons  of  hay  per  acre,  accord- 
may  be  expected  in  the  Soy  bean.  Besides,  they  con¬ 
tain  a  fair  percentage  of  carbohydrates : 
Protein  Fat 
Corn  contains  about .  10  percent  5  percent 
Rye  contains  about .  12  percent  2  percent 
Oats  contain  about .  12.5  per  cent  4.5  per  cent 
The  Soy  bean  is  therefore  more  than  three  times 
as  rich  as  these  grains  in  protein  and  fat.  It  is 
richer  than  linseed  meal,  and  compares  favorably 
with  cottonseed  meal  in  these  elements,  and  is 
therefore  a  valuable  supplement  to  corn,  rye  and 
oats  for  balancing  the  ration.  p.  lewis  mark. 
Franklin  Co.,  O. 
Pruning  Trees  and  Pruning  Charity 
WHEN  I  began  pruning,  and  for  several  years, 
I  oiled  my  saw,  and  when  the  sap  from  the 
tree  made  a  ridge  of  gummy  stuff  just  above  and 
about  the  teeth,  I  would  scratch  it  off  with  my  knife. 
It  was  a  slow  process,  as  every  tooth  had  to  have  it 
scraped  off,  as  well  as  the  ridge  above  the  teeth. 
Once,  not  having  oil,  I  dipped  the  saw  in  water,  and 
found  upon  sawing  that  the  gum  dissolved.  I  also 
wiped  the  saw  in  the  snow  and  found  the  same  re¬ 
sult,  so  that  for  many  years  I  have  depended  on  a 
wetting  to  keep  the  saw  in  order,  and  the  knife  never 
has  to  be  resorted  to.  There  is  no  opportunity  for 
any  rust  to  develop  while  the  saw  is  in  use. 
I  recall  an  early  experience  that  shows  the  perver- 
Oisego  Lake,  Cooperstoicn,  A.  Y.  Fig.  671 
RETURNS  IN  WHEAT.— The  poorer  land,  where 
the  Soy  beans  had  been  grown,  yielded  26.6  bushels 
per  acre,  and  the  better  land,  where  the  corn  had 
been  grown,  yielded  1S.S  bushels  per  acre.  Before 
the  wheat  was  cut  it  was  very  plain  that  wherever 
the  poorer  land  extended  across  the  ‘dividing  line 
into  the  corn  ground  the  wheat  on  the  corn  ground 
was  only  about  half  the  height  of  that  on  the  Soy 
bean  ground  right  beside  it,  and  the  heads  less  than 
half  as  large,  but  where  the  better  land  extended 
across  the  line  to  the  Soy  bean  ground  little  differ¬ 
ence  could  be  seen  in  the  wheat.  It  was  all  good, 
showing  what  I  have  since  observed,  that  wherever 
the  land  is  in  a  good  state  of  fertility  growing  Soy 
beans  does  not  greatly  increase  the  fertility  or  im¬ 
prove  the  following  crop,  perhaps  only  one,  two  or 
three  bushels.  But  they  certainly  are  great  to  start 
depleted  land  on  the  way  toward  recovery. 
SEED,  HAY  AND  FORAGE.— We  grow  Soy  beans 
chiefly  for  seed,  but  also  make  a  little  hay  and  have 
had  a  little  experience  in  pasturing  them  as  a  sepa¬ 
rate  crop,  and  much  experience  in  pasturing  them 
in  the  corn.  In  corn,  wherever  it  is  to  be  used  for 
silage,  or  to  be  hogged  off  or  lambed  off,  we  consider 
them  a  very  useful  crop  as  forage,  if  the  right  varie¬ 
ties  are  grown.  As  hay  all  stock  is  fond  of  them, 
and  we  think  there  is  no  other  hay  better  for  dairy 
cows  and  sheep;  perhaps  no  other  so  good,  not  even 
Alfalfa.  But  wherever  Alfalfa  and  the  clovers  grow 
well  they  make  hay  at  less  cost  on  account  of  the 
smaller  amount  of  labor  and  seed  required,  since 
the  ground  for  Soy  beans  has  to  be  prepared  and 
sown  each  year.  Their  chief  value  as  a  hay  crop  is 
where  the  land  is  too  acid  to  grow  other  legumes  suc¬ 
cessfully,  or  where  for  any  reason  there  is  a  failure 
in  the  stand  of  Alfalfa  and  clover  or  other  grass. 
Too  much  cannot  be  said  for  growing  Soy  beans  un- 
ing  to  soil,  season,  time  of  planting  and  other  condi 
tions. 
CONSERVATIVE  ADVICE.— Do  I  advise  others 
to  plant  this  crop?  Yes,  by  all  means.  But  they 
should  use  common  sense  about  it.  I  would  not  ad¬ 
vise  the  average  farmer  to  grow  them  for  seed  in 
any  considerable  amounts  until  some  better  methods 
are  devised  to  harvest  and  thrash  them,  as  these 
processes  are  very  difficult  and  unsatisfactory  with¬ 
out  special  machinery  for  the  purpose,  and  this  at 
present  is  both  expensive  in  cost  and  exacting  in 
its  operation.  Most  of  it,  too,  is  not  very  satisfac¬ 
tory. 
COMPARISON  WITH  OTHER  CROPS.— How 
does  this  crop  compare  with  other  crops?  It  is 
hardly  comparable  to  them,  as  its  sphere  is  not  so 
much  to  take  their  place  as  to  supplement  them  by 
furnishing  the  farmer  a  high  protein  feed  that  is 
homegrown  to  balance  his  ration  of  corn  or  other 
high  carbohydrate  feeds,  instead  of  buying  expen¬ 
sive  protein  feeds  in  the  market  for  that  purpose. 
The  grain  of  the  Soy  bean  is  the  richest  in  protein 
of  all  feeds  grown  in  the  corn  belt  of  the  United 
States,  and  aside  from  flaxseed  it  is  the  richest  in 
fat.  It  analyzes  in  these  elements  about  as  shown 
in  the  following  tests  made  for  me  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  Prof.  Furman  E.  Pear  of  the  Department  of 
Soils  of  Ohio  State  University.  The  figures  give  the 
percentage : 
Varieties 
Protein 
Fat 
Black  Eyebrow 
1S.02 
Manchu  . 
18.23 
Mongol  . 
17.73 
Ito  San  . 
.  37.12 
18.74 
Hamilton  . 
19.69 
Average. . . 
18.5 
These  beans 
grown  on  my  farm  are  given 
as  a 
fair  sample  of 
the  amount  of  protein  and  fat 
that 
-  sity  of  human  nature.  One  would  hardly  think  to 
receive  such  treatment  under  the  conditions.  Hav¬ 
ing  been  a  city  man,  I  determined  to  be  good  to  the 
boys.  We  hear  so  much  about  giving  things  away 
to  those  less  fortunate  than  ourselves.  I  had  per¬ 
haps  a  bushel  of  apples  left  over  one  day  (I  made 
weekly  trips  to  the  city  with  eggs,  fruit,  etc.),  and 
thought  I  would  remember  the  boys.  It  was  the  lat¬ 
ter  part  of  the  afternoon,  and  as  I  was  passing  some 
boys  I  called  to  them  and  tossed  them  some  apples. 
In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  there  was  about 
me  such  a  mob  of  boys  that  I  could  not  supply  the 
apples  fast  enough,  and  they  closed  in  on  me  and  be¬ 
gan  to  help  themselves,  even  climbing  into  the 
wagon.  As  my  trade  was  also  in  the  neighborhood 
of  my  home,  I  purchased  the  things  that  I  did  not 
raise  to  take  back  with  me.  The  boys  began  to  help 
themselves,  even  pulling  the  slats  from  a  melon 
crate  and  taking  the  melons.  At  this  I  grabbed  my 
whip,  drove  them  off.  and  started  the  horse.  I  don’t 
like  to  refuse  children  when  I  can  give  to  them  as 
well  as  not,  but  recalling  this  incident,  always  give 
secretly  or  refuse  if  there  are  others  in  sight. 
We  frequently  hear  city  folks  say  that  farmers 
ought  to  give  away  their  products  to  the  poor  rather 
than  let  so  much  go  to  waste  as  does  at  times.  That 
side  of  it  is  very  good,  but  who  is  going  to  gather 
and  distribute  it?  The  farmer  has  no  time  to  work 
at  jobs  that  don’t  pay,  any  more  than  other  people. 
And  who  are  the  poor?  Where  do  you  find  them? 
The  worthy  poor  are  not  begging,  and  the  impostor 
types  don’t  commend  themselves  to  anyone.  There 
are  two  sides  to  all  of  these  questions. 
Rhode  Island.  f.  t.  jencks. 
R.  N.-Y. — Many  of  us  have  had  similar  experience. 
Whoever  heard  of  a  group  of  country  boys  turning 
into  a  mob  of  little  robbers  in  that  way? 
