Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-04-21
TIE ARMY
 A PATRIOTIC DUTY
The Nation Needs Food and Forage Crops-Farmers Should Plant Plen-
 tifu'Iy of All the Food Crops.
l.. w. Osborn, Agricultural Expert ment Station, University of
 Arkansas


 ment Station, University of
 Arkansas
 Remember, MT. Farmer, that in this national crisis you are expected to raise enough food and feed to take care of your family and the livestock on your farm. In making your plans you should raise the crops which will give you the great est returns per acre not only in money, but in food value. Do not forget to plant such crops as corn, cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, pea nuts, Sudan grass, sorghum, etc. At this time it will pay you to give par ticular attention to the soy bean.
 Soy Bean Has Many Uses.
 As a marketable crop the possibil- ties of the soy bean are immense. Tine forage, when cut as the pods are we'll formed, is palatable and nutritious for all classes of live stock. It is well known that the supply of linseed oil, which in the past has been the chief oil used in paint manufacture, is limited and variable. Soy bean oil can be substituted either partially or entirely for certain more expensive oils in the manufacture of paints, channels, vanishes and soaps. The oil can also be used to make edi- ble salad oil and as butter substi- ute. The soy bean meal which is the hy-product from the seed after the Cil is expressed, can be used for fertiliz- CTS or as a concentrate to feed live stock or for flour to use for human consumption. Soy bean meal contains even more protein than is found in cotton seed meal.
 Adapted to Many Soils and Conditions.
 The soy bean is legume and conse- Guently when grown upon properly inoculated soil will increase the nitro- gen content of the soil. At the same time the crop is a convenient one to place in a crop rotation. It grows and thrives during the hottest sum- mer weather. It is we'll adapted to various types of soils and con- 1 ditions, and different varieties are successfully grown under the same climatic conditions as corn.
 Seed Bed Should Be We'll Prepared. The seed bed should be well pre- pared for soy bean seed and can be sown any time after severe frosts arc over until about July 1. Earlier seed | fngs usually produce heavier growth | of foliage and require alonger growing | season. Even the later varieties show l marked ability to adjust themselves to a shortened growing season when | seeded late.
 Best Varieties For Seed Production. Variety of soy beans vary in time of maturity, in color and size of seed and in growth characteristics. Nu- merous varieties are in existence, but l only about fifteen are handled com l mercially by seeds men. The following 1 are among the more. important varie I ties especially suitable for seed pro duction.
 Mammoth Yellow soy bean is a standard commercial variety grown more extensively than any other in Arkansas. The variety yields we'll o1 both grain and forage. It is one o1 the latest varieties in time of ma turity.
 1 The Habelandt soy bean is similar in appearance of seed, but is some what earlier than Mammoth. The va riety is satisfactory for grain produc tion, but does not produce as 1uxur iant a growth for hay. It is advisa ble where an earlier variety thar Mammoth is desired.
 There are other varieties which ar' very suitable for seed and forage pro 1 duction, but which are not so com monly grown Certain varieties, sucf as the Virginia, Arlington, Wilson ant Picking produce plants with some what finer stems than the Mammotl and are an advantage for forage pro duction.
 Care Must Be Taken in Harvesting.
 Soy beans are best fitted for hay when the pods are we'll formed. Whe1 grown for grain alone, the cuttin, may be delayed in the case of mos varieties until all of the leaves hav' fallen. Care must be taken to hay vest before the pods begin to burst.
 In storing soy beans after thresh ing, the beans should be spread ou and not massed in large quantities Soy beans will heat rather easily not thoroughly dry, and the germina
 tion will be ruined.
 A Good Market For the Soy Bean.
 In addition to being go"l Wa
 measure, remember that it will pay | T consider the soy bean as permanen
 money crop since 1t has been foun that cotton seed oil mills can be at
 justed without much trouble to us soy beans. Different investigators re
 port that only few minor and inez
 pensive changes in equipment ar
 necessary.
 Cotton seed oil mills in Arkansa
 will no doubt welcome the soy bean as commercial crop. An add tional crop of this character will c, , tend their operating season and les!