The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-30
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points about 1t. so that 1t recommends itself to all intelligent farmers and It's feeding qualities are of such high value that everyone ought to grow it. From analysis of the bean, it will be seen that it contains three times as much crude protein and nearly three and a half times as much fat as oats, almost three times as much fat as corn and three and a half times as much pro- tein. Twelve times as much fat and twice as much protein as peas, all of which shows that it is one of the most valuable and most concentrated of our feeding stuffs.
 One of the most important uses to which this crop can be put is for green forage. I have been growing it for years and find it all that can be desired in that line. As feed for milch cows, in conjunction with grain, I do not know of anything to equal 1t. and this is the verdict of many who have grown this crop and have given it a fair and careful trial. At the Massachusetts Experiment Station they have tried aI- most every conceivable kind of combi- nation of this crop with others grain feeds, and in every case the results were satisfactory. Soy beans and sor- ghum make an ideal combination for eASOh AOauCfy dS tue OOy bean IS TlCn in the muscle-making clements and sorghums in the fat growing ones, and as both of them make large yields of forage, they are among the first to be recommended by the dairymen and stockmen. Experiments with this crop for ensilage have been also gratifying, and more so when mixed with other crops, such as corn or millet but it is not in this direction that I want my farmer friends to consider 1t, because so far as I know the silo in the South is not yet much in evidence. Those who do not want to make crop of Soy beans for the seed only, can make very good hay of 1t of a high feeding value by cutting it just as soon as the pods have well formed. If cut at that time and we'll cured. 1t makes a su- perior hay, but if the cutting is delay ed until the beans are nearly full size
 the plant gets too woody and stock does not care to eat itlall up.
 It is also getting to be a common practice to use this crop as hog pas- ture and hog fattened, and in many cases this use could be made the most profitable of all, because the beans are excellent hog food. and fed thus would save the trouble and cost of harvest ing good crop. Being a legume, and marks now bring me to the con- sideration of the best mode of culture for the Soy bean. The soil for same should be light sandy loam. we'll drain- ed. and the ground should be thor oughly plowed previous to prepara- tions for planting the seed, because a good root bed is one of the prime es- sentials for having a good crop Be- ing legume, and therefore, a nitrogen gatherer, phosphoric acid and potash 0l nte -tilizer. From six to eight hundred pounds per acre of fertilizer analyz- ing from six to eight per cent of each Is recommended. This should be broad casted and worked into the soil some time previous to planting the seed. There is a tendency among some farmers, thinking that phosphoric acid and very small per cent of potash will be all that is necessary, but this is a very grave error. as without the pot ash. the phosphoric acid cannot pro- duce complete product, phosphoric acid alone tending to produce prema- ture ripening and imperfect seed in fact, the potash is the element that makes the perfect product, and the in- telltgent and progressive farmer of to- day should take these facts into close consideration in all farming operations. Should space permit, I would like to 1urther dwell on the fertilizer question and urge its importance on my farmer friends. but will pass on to consider the planting and cultivation of the Soy bean.
 In planting the crop. if the soil is strong, drills should be only about thirty inches apart and the seed close iy planted, to prevent the plant get ting too woody at maturity, the ten dency being that way. If too much room Is given to the plant, but on thin soil, three to three and a half feet apart Is necessary If hay only Is required. broadcasting the seed Is recommended. but this will require from a bushel and a half to two bushels of seed, whereas planting in the drill half a bushel Is quite ample. The after-cultivation when drilled should be with a view to Keep down weeds and keep the soil well stirred up to time of blossoming. If broadcasted, the weeder can be run over the crop safely up to the time the plants are ten inches or foot high. The rabbits are the soy beans worst enemy that I know of; they are very fond of the young leaves. and will de- stroy crop in a very short time. Air slaked lime put on when the dew is still on, is the best remedy that have ever found for them.-C. K McQuar- rie, Florida, in The Stockman.