Middletown transcript., 1910-05-21
THE S0YBEANS
A Promising New Crop for
Delaware

| For the past three years the Delawar'
Experiment Station has been making ex
teusive tests with the Soybeans, q PLAN
introduced several years ago from Japan,
From the results secured by this Station
together with the favorable reports from
other experiment stations and practical
farmers IN other states regarding the cul.
tnre of this crop, it seems safe to predict
that the soy or sofa bean viii become 3
valuable crop wherever corn is grown and
hogs and cattle are fed.
The soybean is legume and, like the
cowpea, has q beneficial effect on the
soil where it grows. It produces a hay
almost as nutritious as alfalfa, while the
seed has little more fesding value than
oil meal. Thus far soybsans have proved
valuable crop to grow for seed asRthe
supply has hardly equalled the demand.
As to length Of growing season and the
place in crop rotations, the soybean is
almost identical with the cowpea.
OF thirteen varieties tested in 1907,
nine produced to A tons of hay per
acre. OF 2l varieties tested for seed pro-
duction, 12 yielded from 18 to 80 bushels
per acre. Thirty varieties were tested in
1908; twenty produced 8 to Al tons of
hay. and yielded from 20 to SO bushels of
seed. Forty varieties we're grown in 1909;
80 produced 20 to 40 bushels OF seed per
acre. On the same land with the like
treatment the best varieties Of cowpeas
produced 2 tons OF hay per acre and
yielded 10 bushels of seed.
Soybeans are adapted to wide range
Of soils and may be grown in any part of
Delaware. Land that will grow corn
will produce good crop Of soybeans
The richer the soil the larger the yield of
forage, though not always of seed. A Grim.
son clover sod or land which has had
dressing Of stable manure the previous
year Is en- excellent preparation for the
crop. On most soils in lower Delaware
an application Of 200 lbs. per acre Of the
following fertilizer mixture is recommend
ed: 100 lbs. acid phosphate, 40 lbs. muri.
ate Of potash, Soils in good state of fer.
tility or to which manure has been oc.
casionally applied do not usually require
inoculatioR.
Prepare the land as for corn and SOW
about ten or twenty days after the usual
time for planting corn.
If intended for hay, SOW with an ordin.
ary wheat drill as for wheat, using about
Il bushels per acre. Sown in this manner
the plants soon cover the ground and no
cultivation is necessary. Cut when the
lower leaves begin to turn yellow. Cure
with as little handling as possible. When
partially cured they may be thrown into
small cocks and allowed to finish curing
there.
II seed is the object, drill in rows 80 |
to 40 inches apart. The wheat drill an
sWers nicely for this purpose, ss the dis
tance between rows can be adjusted as
desired by stopping the proper feed cups.
About l bushel of seed per acre will be |
required when drilled in rows. Cultivate |
three or four times as for corn, keeping
she surface coil we'll stirred and level. |
Cut when the leaves have turned yellow. |
The threshing may be done with an or
dinary grain separator or, if the quantity |
is small, failed out.
While q large number of varieties is |
known and have been tested by the var
ious Experiment Stations, there are but
few varieties on the market. The best
known Of these are the Medium Green,
Ito San, and Medium Yellow, Wilson and
Black Beauty.
The Experiment Station has no soy.
beans for sale, but will gladly furnish any
further information in regard to growing |
bhe crop. A. E. GRANTHAM,
Agronomist,
Delaware Experiment Station.