The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1914-09-24
!. To THE FARMERS
OF TENNESSEE
BY CAPT. t. f. PECK,
Commissioner of Agriculture.
Soy Bean as a Farm Crop.


There are five reasons advanced why
proftably added to the soy bean car
be made your crop rotation. They are
grain production, forage and silage
green manuring, pasture and gather.
ing nitrogen from the air and storing
it in nodules on the roots The grain
of the soy bean is rich in protein, OF
muscle-building food, and in oil, and
thereby compares favorably with cot
ton seed meal and oilmeal. 1t con-
tains more than one-third more pro-
tein and twice as much fat as cow-pea
hay. In an experiment conducted at
the experiment station in feeding
dairy cows it was found the soy bean
meal was superior to cotton seed meal
for producing both milk and butter,
when each of these acknowledgements
feeds were fed with the same other
fat-producing feed stuffs.
AS feed for hogs, several stations
have tested the value of soy bean
meal The Indian Experiment Station
found that ration embracing soy
bean meal as the protein portion of
the feed gave larger daily gains from
smaller quantities of feed for each
pound of gain than did wheat middl-
ings or tankage when used under sim
liar conditions for pork production.
The soy bean, therefore, serves
most satisfactorily the purpose of a
suitable grain for use in balancing the
high carbohydrate content of corn.
Soy bean hay, when cut at the prop
er stage of growth and carefully cured
is excellent, and for dairy cattle at
least yields results equal to alfalfa
hay. For hay production soy beans
may be planted in cultivated rows, or,
when the ground is free from weeds,
they may be drilled or broadcasted.
To get the best hay from soy beans,
they should be cut when half or more
of the pods are fully grown, but before
they begin to change color in ripen-
ing. Another rule, which is probably
the better one to follow, is to cut them
when the top leaves begin to turn yell
low. At this stage of growth the larg-
est yield and at the same time good
quality of hay will be secured. The
hay is easier to cure than COW pea
hay, the amount of moisture in the
vines at harvesting time being less.
The soy bean crop can often be
profitably utilized by pasturage par
ticularly to hogs, especially when fed
corn in addition. This is advisable
when harvesting is interfered with by
lack of labor, bad weather or other
causes, and when the crop is grown
especially for soil Improvement. BY
this means not only is the crop profit
able in itself, but the manure is re-
turned to the soil. The usual prac-
tice is to turn the hogs into the soy
beans when the pods are nearly full
of grain, but before they have begun
to ripen.
Soy beans are more commonly
grown with corn than with any other
crop. They are planted in different
sections in various ways, namely, al
ternate hills, with the corn in the same
row, in alternate rows Of cash, in al
ternate series of two rows each, or
broadcasted in mixture Such fields
when planted in rows may be harves-
ted for silage, or where the rows al
ternate the two crops may be harvest
ed separately. Sometimes such mixed
fields are utilized by pasturing to
hogs. The beans should be planted in
between the corn rows at the time of
the last cultivation.