Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-09-04
HARVESTING SOY
BEANS FOR GRAIN.
L. :. Department OF Agriculture Is
sues Bulletin on Relatively New
Agricultural Industry.


| For the information of farmers
who are beginning to grow soy beans
for grain rather than for hay, and
who are unfamiliar with the hand
ling of the plants under the former
conditions, the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture will shortly pub
lish Farmers Bulletin, Harvesting
Soy Beans for Seed. The demand
for these seeds for use in the pro-
duetion of oil, feed cake. and other
bean products is rapidly increasing
and the farmers of the United States
are preparing to meet this demand.
The character of growth, the uni
form maturing habits. and the heavy
seed yields of the SOY beans, says the
! bulletin, contribute to the ease of
! harvesting and recommend the plants
for seed production The many dis
advantages which attend the harvest
ing OF cowpeas for seed are not COM
mon to the soy bean. When grown
for grain alone the SCATTERING of the
pods of the soy bean is serious fault
and inexperienced growers are like
~ to sustain a heavy loss of seed
through lack of knowledge and i'm
proper handling of the soy bean
plant. The SCATTERING varies with the
varieties of the bean II is we'll
however, with most varieties to give
special attentionas maturity devel-
opes to prevent serious losses from
this cause
Time of Harvesting.
In general, the best time to har-
vest, except where special bean har-
yesters are used, is when about
three-fourths of the leaves have fall
len and most of the pods have turned
color. If cut at an earlier stage the
plans are difficult to cure properly,
and the yield will be lessened mater
tally on account of the immature
grain On the other hand, if the
plants are allowed to become too ripe
the pods will shatter before being
cut, and much seed will be lost.
When special harvesters are used to
gather the seed, the plants must
reach full maturity to obtain the best
results.
Methods of Harvesting.
Various methods of harvesting the
crop are in use in different sections
where the soy bean is grown largely
for seed production. The crop may
be cut with ordinary moving ma
chimes, self-rake reapers, self-bind-
ers, or even with scythes, corn knives
or sickles. The beans also may be
harvested with a special bean har-
vester which gathers the grain from
the standing plants.
When the plants are cut before ma
turity they are cured in shocks and
allowed to remain in the field until
convenient time for thrashing. If
thoroughly dry they may be housed
and thrashed later
Thrashing.
Thrashing may be done with an
ordinary grain separator, but if this
machine is used it must be altered
somewhat to prevent the cracking of
the beans In some cases a special
set of thin concaves is used for thrash
ing beans and in other instances some
of the concaves are removed Good
judgment on the part of the thrash
erman will enable him to adjust the
ordinary separator so that the beans
may be thrashed with little splitting.
Special pea and bean separators are
on the market and their use may be
advisable when large acreages of the
beans are to be handled If thor
oughly dry. soy beans can be thrashed
with a fail If only small acreage
is to be thrashed-an acre or So
this method is practicable and eco
nOmical In a few sections a corn
shredder has been used to advantage
in thrashing beans. If properly cured
and dried out, the beans shell out
very readily with such a machine
The straw obtained from thrashing
soy beans for seed is a valuable feed
for all kinds of stock In many Sec
tions the straw is baled at the time
of thrashing and sold to liverymen,
dairymen, and stock feeders
Storage OF Seed.
AS soy bean seed spoils rather
easily if not properly handled, care
chouAu Dt tASIClSCu III CuIiuS anu
storing. After the beans are thrashed
they should be watched carefully to
avoid heating and holding When
thoroughly dry there is no such dan
ger. The best plan, perhaps, is to
spread the seeds out on a floor, i'm
mediately after thrashing, and shovel
them over from time to time until
they are thoroughly dry After this
they may be safely put into sacks or
bins. The storeroom should be dry
and with free circulation of air.
Soy bean seed loses its viability
rather rapidly, and it is not safe to
hold seed for planting purposes more
than two seasons. The seeds of the
soy bean, unlike those of the COW
pea, are rarely attacked by weeyils
or other grain insects
-Anunav Fee uacn,+ oooofa nflz,