The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-12-08
HARVESTING SOY BEANS.
Inexperienced Growers Should in-
form Themselves.

| FoT tnc lniOrlilatiOH VI idrnif' =
who SOW soy beans for grain rather
than for hay and who arc unfamilia'
with the handling of the plants ,ir-
DER the former conditions the UniteI
States Department OF Agriculture hAi
published n Farmers Bulletin, "Har-
vertihg Soy Beans for Seed" Thc
demand for these seeds for use In
the production Of oil. feed cake, ana
other bean products is rapidly in
creasing and the farmers of tn
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 cas-,
Of harvesting and recommend the
plants for seed production The many
disadvantages which attend the har.
vesting of cowpeas for seed are not
common to the soy bean. When
grown for grain alone the shatter-
ing OF the pods OF the soy bean Is q
serious fault and inexperienced grow.
ers are likely to sustain q heavy los
OF seed through lack of knowledge
and improper handling Of the SOY
bean plant. The shattering varies
with the varieties of the bean. 1t is
well. however with most varieties f.
give special attention as maturity
approaches to prevent serious loss
from this cause.
In general, the best time to har-
vest. except where special bean har
vesters are used, is when about
three-fourths OF the leaves have fall
en- and most Of the pods have turned
color. If cut at an earlier stage. the
plants are difficult to cure properly.
and the yield will be lessened ma
terially on account of the immature
grain. ON the other hand, il the
plants are allowed to become too
ripe, the pods will shatter before be
ing cut. and much seed will be lost.
When special harvesters are used to
gather the seed. the plants mus,
reach full maturity to obtain tho besl
results
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-
crs. or even with scythes, corn
Knives. OF sicales. The beans also
may be harvested with special bear
harvester which gathers the graf
from the standing plants.
When the plants are cut befors
maturity, they are cured in shocks
and allowed to remain in the fell
until a convenient time for thresh
ing. If thoroughly dry they may be
housed and threshed later.
Threshing may be done with an
ordinary grain separator. but if thi
machine Is used it must be altered
somewhat TO prevent the cracking o
the beans. In some cases special
set OF thin concaves is used fo~
threshing beans and i'm other In
stances some OF the concaves are re
moved. Good judgment OF the part
oil the thresherman will enable him
10 adjust the ordinary separator ,
that the beans may be threshed with
little splitting. Special pea and beaa
separators are on the market, ana
'heir use may be advisable whom
large acreages of the beans are to
handled 10 thoroughly dry, so,
oeahs can be threshed with fail.
u only small acreage is to Lee
'hrcshed-an acre or so-tbis moth.
oo rs practicable and economical. In
lew sections corn shredder has
"ceh used to advantage i'm tbreshinr
"cahs If properly cured and dried
out 'hc beans shell out very rapidly
with such machine
Tho straw obtained from tbre,,
ing SOY beans for seed is a valuable
'eed for all Kinds of stock IN ro,y
Noc'iohs the straw is ba,ed at ,ho
''me OF thrcshing and sold To ,yor,
non o"'Fymen, aud stock feeders
As soy-bean seed spoils ,,,r.,
easily II not properly handled c,,.
should be eyerciea1 l.,