The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-02-17

prepared by the United States Depart.
ment of AgricultureD
The soy bean. Il lcgume introduced
| into this country from Asia, may be
! grown throughout the humid and semi
! humid sections of the South and i'll
| the southern portion of the corn belt,
and thriVeS especially well in the cot
ton-growing regions. Because of this
latter fact ii offers an excellent OPP
portunity To the cotton planter for adj
juSting his farm plans To offset the
damage To cotton inflicted by the boil
weevil.
On the other hand, since valuable
oil may he pressed from the beans in
cottonSeed oil mills. and since boil
weevil activities tend To lessen cotton
seed production, the growing of soy
beans in the South should greatly in
tereSt the owners of oil mills. The
production of soy beans in consider
able quantities may, in fact, be needed
IN some seasons To keep the expensive
equipment of the mills operating prof
itably.
Importance of Bean.
The bean already occupies Il place
of unusual economic Importance in
Asia and especially as n material from
which fOOdStulfs, cattle feed. fertilizer,
and oil suitable for variety of uses
may he manufactured. should become
increasingly important in the United
States To both farmers and manufac-
turerS.
From The farmers point of view the
existence of the many oil mills in the
South and the probability that by fur
niShing demand for soy beans these
concerns will make the lpgume an i'm
portant cash crop should greatly facili-
tate the Introduction of the new pro-
duct on commercial scale. Soy beans
should be of additional interest to
farmers, since, as in the case of other
legumeS, their culture improves the
soil. If Il sustained demand for them
can be built up, therefore, soy beans
can he introduced advantageously into
Il rotation with cotton, furnishing ut
the same time second important
cash product and soil-improving
crop.
Development of Industry.
The recognition of the possibilities
of bringing about the production of
soy beans on commercial basis in
the South is not based only on the
economic Importance of the crop in
Asia, where its production on large
scale has been established for many
years, or on the established market
for the beans practically throughout
Europe. Soy beans have been grown
for forage in this country for many
years, and their adaptability to a wide
range of climatic and soil conditions
has become fully demonstrated In
recent years the crop has been grown
to an increasing extent for its seeds
in eastern North Carolina. A large
production of the beans in this sec
ton in 1913, together with the occur
renee of a cOttOnseed shortage, led
10 the experimental pressing of con-
siderable quantity of beans by local
oil mills. These experiments were EN-
tirely satisfactory and the mills par
ticipating in them are now taking an
active part in the development of this
new industry with American-grown
beans. Oil mills on the Pacific coast
have been operating for several years
with soy beans imported from Man
churia and have found a ready sale in
this region for the oil, cake. and other
products.
Culture of Soy Bean.
The soy bean can be grown success
fully on nearly all types of soil and
has about the same range of climatic
adaptation as varieties of corn. The
growing and handling of the beans are
almost entirely bv ma
chinery In this country. the ordinary
farm equipment meeting all the re-
quirements of the crop. In large beon-
growing districts special harvesters
for gathering the seed in the field are
used quite successfully. The cost of
varies from $50 to So
per acre. depending on the methods
Animals Harvesting Corn.
l..