The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-02-27
GROWING SOY BEANS

N"SvvtIN0 0Ov 6CANS
Fred e. Meyer, Burton, Ohio, writes
as 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
NIL very important place in crop ro-
tation. and make good hay crop, be-
cause II an early crop should fail or
partially fail. 1t 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 flbrous 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
when these two crops are grown separ-
ately and mixed at the time OF filling
the silo. putting In two loads of corn
and then ore 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, 1t stands a
great deal Of hot weather.
Soy beans. being similar to the other
leguminous 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
we'll 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 a number Of varieties that
are grown very successfully in Ohio,
but the medium green is the best and
most widely grown. It requires from
ninety to one hundred days for matur-
ing. II Is a very good crop for pro-
ducing hay. but. on the other hand
must be handled with care or It will
shatter its seed very badly. The Ito
San Is an extensively used variety. II
Is ten to fifteen days earlier than the
medium green. but does not yield as
much seed, nor IL 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 MEM
toned above are the best.
The soy bean requires a seed bed
similar to that Of corn. 1t 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 for
forage only or for green manuripg
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 felds
where the beans were drilled eight
inches apart as compared with those
drilled twenty four inches apart
When drilled eight inches apart, the
stalks do not grow as large, and for
this reason seem to make little bet
ter quality Of hay than when drilled
in wider rows.
With the rows twenty-eight to thirty
inches apart, 1t requires about one-half
hushel Of seed to the acre: two foot
rows require about three pecks. and II
drilled solid, from one and one-half to
two bushels to the acre.
The tillage implements used for cul'
tivating soy beans are similar to those
used for corn. In some cases the
veeder has given very good satisfac'
ton. but usually the onehorse harrow
tooth cultivator is used. All cultiva-
tion should be shallow and level.
When harvesting for hay. the SOY
beans should be cut just as soon as the
mods begin to form, for two reasons
FIRST. to preserve the leaves, which 10
the most important part OF forage
purposes, and second, the stem Is not
80 woody at this stage OF the plants
growth. II the plants are left until
the beans are matured, the stems are
verv woody and Of little value for hay.
II the plant Is to be used for silage
nurposes. It may be permitted to stand
until It is more mature and yet make
good feed.
When cutting for seed. 1t is neces
sarv TO harvest before the seeds are
ripe. so as to prevent losing large
norton OF the seeds by SCATTERING.
The moving machine and the hay
AXE are the best implements for har'
yesting the soy beans. There nave
been some special machines designed
for this purpose, but they have not
proven satisfactory. When threashine
for seed, the ordinary threshing ma
chine will handle the work satisfactor-
ily. but should be run at very moder-
ate speed with the concaves blank.