Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-07
F ARM EDUCATION
Facts About the New Laredo Soy
Roam
BY DR.. ANDREW M. SOULE

Facts About the New Laredo So,
w. d. A, Macon, Ca, writes:
l wish information about the
Laredo soy beans. At what time
should they be planted how
much does it take to plant an
acre; how wide should the rows
be, and how far apart in the
row?
The soy bean promises to become
a crop of great valIe to Georgia. Il
Us particularly valuable for use as
hay. 1t is also serviceable as 8
grazing crop for hogs. 1t is a gooC
soil-builder. The grain yield OBJ
tanned with certain varieties, such
as the Laredo and O-too-tan, is suf
flclent to justify its growth for this
purpose alone
1t is quite true that the Laredo
made the record described in the ar
ticle you read. We have grown it
on the college farm for the past six
years and regard It as the most
promising variety for general cul
uvation in Georgia. Other strains
which have done we'll include the
O-Too-Tan, Mammoth Yellow, and
Southern Prolific. AS the one gen
eral purpose bean, however, we as
sign first place to the Laredo and
the second place probably to the
.O-Too-Tan. Both of these varieties
have fine stems instead. of the
coarse central stem characteristic of
most other varieties. The seed is
small and black in color. The
plants attain a good size. The La
redo natures much earlier than the
O-TooTan, and, on that account, we
planting in North Georgia. The
seed of the Laredo is smaller than
that of the O-Too-Tan. The fine,
slender stems of this variety are
adapted to making hay of an excel
lent quality.
Soy beans should be planted in
rows when grown for seed. For hay
production, they may be sown broad
cast on rich lands and planted in
rows on the poorer soils. When
seeded in rows, space the plants
from four to six inches apart. A
drill that is suited to the seeding of
sorghum can be used for this pur-
pose. In three foot rows, it will
take from gallon to a half bushel
of seed per acre. If sown broad
cast, about twice the amount of seed
which has been suggested above will
De required.
On thin lands. fertilizers should
be used. We recommend an appli-
cation of 800 pounds of acid phos-
plate and 100 pounds of kainit. On
sandy soils, replace the kainit with
muriate of potash.
Soy beans can be grown with corn
on the richer soils; though they do
not stand shading as we'll as cow
peas. They may also be grown aft
er oats Or wheat. Cultivate soy
beans exactly as you would cowpeas.
The implements used for corn or
cotton culture are suited to the pro-
duction of soy beans. The planting
should be done as soon as the ground
is warm enough to insure the ger
lmination of the seed. Where soy
beans are cut for hay, harvesting
should begin about the time the pods
are filled. The O-Too-Tan should be
cut earlier than this. Where the
seed is to be saved for grain, one
of two methods may be pursued.
where they stand in the field
through the use Of a special ma
chine. (2) They may be cut with
a corn harvester or ordinary grain
binder. bound into sheaves, cure&
in shocks just like grain, AMI
threshed later. The second method
Is the most practicable one to fol-
low under Georgia conditions. Cut
the Laredo bean when the pods are
beginning to turn yellow and the
leaves tend to drop off. A pea and
bean thrasher may be used for clean