Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-03-23
Soy Beans as Substitute for
Cotton


Soy Beans as a Substitute for
Cotton
W. H. N, Acworth, Ga. We
are trying to interest farmers in
our section to raise soy beans
for a money crop in connection
with cotton. Our idea is to get
them to plant about five acres
Of cotton to the plow and plenty
of other feed and from two to
five acres in soy beans, as they
will not only furnish them a
money crop but will also build
up the land. What do you think
of this plan?
Your plan of encouraging the
farmers of your section to diversity
their crop production is to be high
! ly commended. By all means let
them hold their cotton acreage down
| to five or six acres per ploW. Choose
the earliest possible maturing varie-
ties and fight the Weevil from this
date forward. If this is done con-
Sistently and actively and calcium
arsenate nationally used there is no
reason why these farmers should
|
upward per acre, even in face of
heavy boil weevil infestation. We
| know this can be done, because we
have accomplished it on our farm
here in Athens, and the same thing
has been achieved seven or eight
years in succession in sections of
the state which the Weevil first en-
| tered.
We think it an excellent policy
for your farmers to grow soy beans.
If we reduce the cotton crop in
Georgia by one-half then we will les
sen the amount of cotton seed avail
able for feed and for fertilizing pur-
poses. To make up this deficiency
We must plant someSsubstitute crop.
In north Georgia there is nothing
equal to soy beans. They are bet
ter adapted to our soil and climatic
conditions than any other legume.
Our experience indicates that they
will out-yield cowpeas for grain pro-
ductlon. They will do better on our
red lands than peanuts. They yield
a very fine type of oil and make a
very excellent meal. This meal can
be combined to advantage with corn
and other crops produced on the
farm for the nutrition of live stock
Good varieties Of soy beans for you
to grow in your section of the state
are the Virginia, Black, Mammoth
yellow, Wilson, Pekin and Haber-
landt. The OToo-Tan variety is
more desirable for hay production
than for grain production.
Our belief is that a diversified pro-
gram of farming should be followed
in 1922. We would suggest the
planting Of about six acres of cotton
per pillow, twelve acres of corn, five
acres of oats, two acres of wheat,
seven acres of soy beans for hav,
and seven and five-tenths acres of
soy beans to be sold. In addition,
there should be a sufficient acreage
available to provide the family with
syrup, vegetables, sweet and Irish
| potatoes, fruit and truck crops.
| This would probably call for the cul-
| tiVation Of an additional acre and a
| half of land. In some sections,
| where there are sweet potato stor-
age houses two acres could be de-
voted to this crop. There should,
or course, be some land available for
grazing crops. We think every
| farmer should attempt to keep one
: brood sow, two COWS and fifty hens
in addition
This constitutes what we believe
. be desirable prosperity program
Or Georgia in 1922.
70difying Farm Practice to Meet
the WeeviI
r. G. W., Milledgeville, Ca,
writes: !. have a farm CT sew
eral acresS and as the boil wee
VII has hit us hard, am think
ing of planting about rs per
cent of it to early fall oats to
be followed with peas for hay.
The remaining 25 per cent will
be planted to corn, velvet beans,
| peanuts, sweet potatoes, cane,
etc. My object is to reduce the
cost of labor and live stock and
gradually improve the land. I
| would appreciate your opinion
of this plan.
1t IS, Of couESe, necessary to mod
lily our program of agricultural
production in Georgia ON account of
the presence of the boil weevil. To
eliminate cotton altogether, how
ever, is unWise from our point of
| view. We believe five to six acres
per Cne-horse farm should still be
grown. If you will get an early
| ln0D
follow our suggestions made with
reference to fighting the weevil you
should be able to produce one to
one and half bales and upward
per acre.
You should then organize your
farm On the basis Of producing more
live stock than has been kept on
Georgia farms in previous years. To
do this you would need to emphasize
the production of corn, oats and for.
age crops of various kinds. There
is no reason why you should not
grow oats successfully in your sec.
ton of the state. You can insure
their coming through the winter
nine times out of ten by planting
them in open burrows. Peas and
millet may be soWn after the oats
nave been harvested and make ar
excellent yield. The yield of oats
VIII vary from twenty to twenty-five
bushels per acre. In our opinion
forty bushels would be a fair aver
age yield of oats per acre on Ianc
which is in a reasonably good state
of cultivation. To secure this yielC
you will probably need to use 6
heterogeneous top dresser in the
spring and apply a fairly liberal ra
ton of phCsphoric acid and potash
in the fall. By all means plant vel
vet beans in your corn.
Peanuts may be used for scvera
purposes. They may be sold to the
oil mills, or by rational management
some of them may be fed to hogs
They can also be used for ether pur
poses about the farm. Sweet 20
satcSs, Il grown, standardized anc
cured, should find a suitable market
The same is true of syrup made
from sugar cane.
We advise that on every one
horse farm two brood sows be KEPT
and two dairy COWS. On larger
farms some beef cattle should bt
kept. There is plenty OF. roughagt
on our farms here in Georgia t.