The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-07-25
GROWING SOY BEANS

Fred e. Meyer, Burton, Ohio, writes
a. follows:
please give me information how to
SOW soy beans / would like to have
them in rows far enought apart so
can cultivate them. Please state
amount Of seed per acre"
Soy beans are used very extensively
for haying purposes throughout Ohio.
Together with cowpeas. soy beans
all very important place in crop ro-
tation, and make a good hay crop, be-
cause II an early crop should fail or
partially fail, II is possible to grow a
crop of soy beans during the summer
months. One Of the chief objections to
soy beans as hay crop is that the
stems become very fbrous or woody
unless harvested early.
Soy beans make a very good silage
crop when mixed with corn. The
best results can be obtained by using
two parts of corn to one Of soy beans.
The Ohio experiment station has
found that best results are obtained
when these two crops are grown separ-
ately and mixed at the time Of filling
sA@S ohfcs PuttAhS WV iodut VI COTu
and then one load of soy beans.
For soiling purposes soy beans do
very we'll, mainly because they come
on later than oats, rye, and other crops
used for this purpose Also, because
Of the nature Of the plant, It stands a
great deal of hot weather.
Soy beans, being similar to the other
f1eguminous crops, improve the soil by
gathering nitrogen from the air. II
soy beans or clovers have not been
grown on the field previously, the soy
beans will not, or are apt not to do so
well the first year. The presence of
soil bacteria is necessary to obtain the
best results. This bacteria seems to
be present In more desirable guam
titles after the beans have been grown
in the same field at least one year.
There are number of varieties that
are grown very successfully in Ohio
but the medium green is the best and
most widely Crowd II requires from
ninety to one hundred days for matur-
ing. 1t is very good crop for pro-
ducing hay. but. on the other hand,
must be handled with care or II will
shatter its seed very badly. The Ito
San is an extensively used variety It
Is ten to fifteen days earlier than the
medium green, but does not yield as
much seed, nor is II as satisfactory
for hay as medium green. There are
several other varities, such as me-
dunn yellow, medium early black, and
medium brown, but the two men,
toned above are the best.
The soy bean requires a seed bed
similar to that of corn. It will pro-
duce larger yields of forage on fertile
soils. but seems to produce more seed
on soils that are only medium in fer
tility. The application of stable ma
nure Is very profitable for growing
soy beans.
In seeding soy beans, II for raising
seed only, they should be drilled in
rows twenty-four to thirty inches
apart, which is wide enough to enable
them to be cultivated. II grown fol
forage only, or for green manurine
purposes, they are usually drilled eight
inches apart by the use of the common
grain drill. The Ohio experiment
station has not found wide variance
in forage production between fields
where the beans were drilled eigh
inches anart as compared with those
drilled twenty four inches apart
When drilled eight inches apart, thu
stalls do not grow as large, and TO
this reason seem 10 make little bet
ter quality of hay than when drilled
in wider rows.
with the rows twenty-eight to thirt,
inches apart, II requires about one-hal
bushel OF seed to the acre; two foo
rows require about three pecks, and
drilled solid from one and one-half t
two bushels to the acre.
The tillage implements used 70" cul
tivating soy beans are similar to thos
used for corn. In some cases tn
weeder has given very good satisfac
ton, but usually the one-horse harrcy
tooth cultivator is used. All cultiva
ton should he shallow and level.
When harvesting for hay, the so,
beans should be cut Just as soon as tn
pods begin to form, for two reasons
first, to preserve the leaves, which |
the most important part OF forag
purposes, and second, the stem is no
30 woody at this stage Of the plant
growth. II the plants are left unit
the beans are matured, the stems ar
very woody and OF little value for hay
II the plant Is to be used for silag
purposes, II may he permitted to stan
until Il Is more mature and yet max
good feed.
When cutting for seed II is neces
sary to harvest before the seeds ar
ripe, so as to prevent losing larg
portion Of the seeds by SCATTERING.
The moving machine and the ha
rake are the best implements for ha
vesting the soy beans. There hav
been some special machines designe
for this purpose, but they have nc
proven satisfactory. When threashin
for seed, the ordinary threshing ms