SOY BEAN SEED BED 
The seed bed should be as carefully prepared as for Corn. 
Either Fall plowing or Spring plowing is satisfactory, but 
in either case, the ground should be well worked for 
weeds, and a final harrowing or disking should be done 
just ahead of the seeder. 
TIME OF PLANTING 
Soy Beans, as an emergency hay crop, can be seeded as 
late as early July, but like Corn, produce the maximum 
crop of either hay or Beans when planted relatively early 
and, when possible, Soy Beans should be planted at Corn 
planting time or soon after. 
SEEDING 
The seeding should be shallow, preferably not over 1% 
inches in light soil, and not over % inch to 1 inch in heavy 
soil. Soy Beans are sometimes sown broadcast for hay, but 
the best methods are to drill, solid, like grain, or in cul- 
tivated rows. The tendency is toward cultivated rows as 
this method enables better control of weeds, permits ear- 
lier planting, and results in a better and more productive 
crop of either hay or beans. 
In cultivated rows, the seed should be about one inch apart 
in the row, and while it has been customary to have the 
rows 30 to 86 inches apart, special cultivating machinery 
has tended to narrow the distance between rows from 18 
to 24 inches. (The seeding rate in rows per acre is ap- 
proximately 50 to 60 pounds.) When drilled solid like 
small grain, the seeding rate is approximately 120 pounds 
per acre. 
The grain drill is commonly used for solid sowing, but it 
can also be used for row planting by closing the feeds. 
Corn planters can also be used for row planting. 
In planting Soy Beans with Corn, each is drilled sep- 
arately in the same hill, but at the ratio of two Corn to 
one Soy Bean. 
CULTIVATION 
The most effective cultivation that can be given the Soy 
Bean crop is careful preparation of the seed bed and com- 
plete destruction of all weeds just before seeding. The 
common tools for cultivating Soy Beans are those for 
cultivating Corn, but with the tendency towards narrower 
rows, these tools have been largely replaced by special 
cultivators. The rotary hoe is especially valuable, par- 
ticularly on soils that are inclined to crust. If the soil 
becomes crusted after seeding before the young plants are 
up, the rotary hoe will break the crust and enable the Soy 
Beans to come through the surface. 
Soy Beans should be cultivated to kill the weeds while 
they are in the seedling stage, usually not longer apart 
than a week to ten days. When the Soy Bean plants have 
obtained some size and have several leaves, cultivation 
should only be done when the Beans are dry. 
