Glass Q V ^f£ GopightN - } m * * L » fr i . -mm '' J* * >v~* Jm-imL ' 4 ' * m :■■ ■■ .. . , y*-^ IIP LjLi L j ^ f J ■ dt i 1 ^r* a. ■r i. | * - - A X V* - i #f •" 'S • n vA ^ 1 # N f - - if!*: ** aP jfl|fl>^r»S^iBl^SRMH ■ kW?' !-■ ::s ,• < v ^ « ' L ' jM* i?3fa^»|pir^: V -' la*. ' v -3Ta f J Vh. J r* -?:"• 1*. v- Vv ' %■ '.,._-._ ^x *^sJ3^ iv- r' ■• — ^ : TAKEN SEPT. 20, SHOWING THIRD ROW OF BEANS, NOTICE HEIGHT OF BEANS HELD BY THE LEFT HAND, AND THAT THE CORN NEARLY COMES TOGETHER OVER HEAD. How They Came to be Grown on Our Farm from them shrunk a very little, but not enough to pay for the grain; those which had half the grain taken from them did not shrink at all, and those which had the whole amount did not gain any. The third year I planted the beans in the hill with sweet corn and picked a part of the corn for the canning-factory, then put the rest in the silo with the beans, and when feeding them, could not make the cows gain at all by feeding grain, and the general health of cows was better, and they looked better, than when feeding a grain ration. After experimenting for a number of years, I finally adopted the manner of raising the soy bean which I still use, namely that of planting the beans in the field with the ensilage corn, cutting, and putting them all, corn and beans, in the silo together. In feeding the beans we have experiment- ed with them for a number of years, weighing the milk, and we have never 17 Soy Beans failed of getting fully as much milk when feeding corn and bean ensilage which contained a proper amount of beans, with a half grain ration, as when feeding corn ensilage without the beans and a full grain ration. Since adopting the plan of planting every third row to beans, we have been able to leave off the entire grain ration, especially when feeding clover hay, except in a few cases of cows which we bought and which had previously been fed always on a heavy grain ration; these could not seem to become adjusted to the change, and did not gain, but in most cases the feeding of the mixed silage was very successful, horses also are very fond of this corn and bean silage, and do well on a certain amount of it. It is equally valuable in saving grain in the rearing of calves and young stock. In butter-making this bean and corn mixture is excellent, as it gives good quality and texture to the butter. 18 Soils IT is believed in Japan, the home of the * soy bean, that in northern climates, soils of a rather strong character are best adapted to the soy bean. In both Europe and America it has been found to thrive best on soils of medium texture that are well supplied with potash, phosphoric acid, and lime. It succeeds very well, however, on comparatively light soils, often giving an abundant crop on soils too poor to grow clover. It has been found that good results could be obtained in Europe on a great variety of soils, and similar results have been obtained in the United States. Fairly good crops of soy beans have been obtained in Kansas on very poor soils, and under very adverse conditions as to moisture. 19 Soy Beans In South Carolina the soy bean gives excellent crops on sandy, limestone, or marly soils, and also on drained swamp or peaty lands that are well marled. Ex- periments in both Europe and America show that the soy bean possesses excellent drought-resisting qualities, enduring dry weather much better than the ordinary field or garden beans. While the soy bean is possessed of excellent drought resisting qualities, it at the same time seems to be able to survive a period of excess of moisture better than the cow-pea or even corn. The report of one crop in Illinois is that after standing in water for three weeks in July, the soy beans recovered, while corn and cow-peas under the same condi- tions were premanently injured. The up- right, bushy habit of growth gives the soy bean a great advantage over the cow- pea during wet weather and makes it easier to handle at harvest time.' - The above was taken from a Farmer's 20 Soils Bulletin from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and my own experience is that while soy beans very likely do better on some soils than on others, they will grow on a great variety of soils, and do well, will stand dry or wet weather, or frost, better than most crops raised on the farm. I have raised them on gravelly soil, also rich muck, soil which is wet, and that which is dry with good success, so have drawn the conclusion that the beans will stand extremes of soil and of weather better than corn. 21 Planting and Cultivating A/I Y method of planting the soy bean: * -*■ when using the smaller corn or sweet corn, we plant in rows about three feet apart each way, using the same number of kernels of corn to a hill as would be used without the beans. We plant from four to six kernels of corn in a hill, and from eight to twelve beans, in the same hill with the corn, with the large ensilage corn we row the corn three feet apart North and South, and two and one half feet apart East and West. We plant this way because on our farm the land lies so it is more convenient this way, but this course could be varied to suit any field. In planting we use a hand planter, and plant east and west. We plant two rows 22 Planting and Cultivating of corn and beans mixed, four to eight kernels of corn, and eight to twelve beans in the hill together, then plant one row of clear beans, twelve beans to a hill; Follow this method through the field, making every third row clear beans. Great care should be taken in planting exactly in the checks, on account of culti- vating and harvesting. Two and one half feet may seem rather close together, but the corn having the extra space where the rows of clear beans is, seems to get the sun, and do well, and the corn nearly comes together over head, as shown in the picture. In harvesting we run the corn-harvester north and south, thus mixing the corn and beans readv for the silo. In planting we have tried three different ways; first, we have planted the corn, then have gone over the field the second time planting the beans in the hill, in as nearly the same place as possible; second, we have mixed the corn and beans, 23 Soy Beans estimating the proportion of each, and planting together. Third, we made a dou- ble planter, which is a planter with the hopper divided, each side set independently of the other, and drops the seed in the same place. The seed of the soy bean varies in size. It usually takes from eight to ten quarts per acre. Always test the seed before planting; be sure to plant to a good depth, as the beans do better. A good many failures have been made in raising this crop, by not using enough seed. We have tried several different varieties of soy beans, with varying success; The early black mature before the corn, and do not make a large growth. The large late varieties do not have time to come to maturity in this climate. The medium green soy bean matures in this climate at the same time as the corn, so we have used this variety more than any other, and always with good success. 24 Planting and Cultivating As regards the cultivation, a weeder can not be used successfully when the beans are coming up, or until they get about three inches high, as it will break the tender shoots, even when two or three inches under ground, they come up like garden beans, and little plants are very tender, and it is my impression that many crops of beans are spoiled by using the weeder at this time. I like to cultivate them just before they come up through the ground, setting the cultivator so it will go v r ery close to the row, rolling a little dirt on the row, killing the small weeds which have started . After the beans are up, I cultivate from then on till the beans come together in the rows. There is no need to be afraid of the frost, as far as the beans are concerned, as they will stand more frost than the corn, and with us, they have never been affected by insect or blighting, but wood chucks will destroy them when young. 25 Soy Beans Many times I have been able to save my own bean seed. When the corn harvester passes over the field, some of the bean plants which are heavy with seed drop to the ground, and are not picked up by the harvester. These are afterwards cut by hand, and dried, threshed, and cleaned. 26 Advantages of Raising Soy Beans with Corn ^PHE first and perhaps the greatest ** advantage in growing the soy bean, is the saving of fifty per cent, and many times more of the grain fed to the cows. The crop of corn is as good, or better, when the beans are raised with it. The best corn is usually found where the best beans grow, though this is not always so, as, in some cases where the soil seems to be lacking in nitrogen, and the bean have not yet inoculated the field, the crop has not been entirely satisfactory, but have never known of but one or two instances where this has been so. One great ad- vantage in raising the bean is that, in our own experience, the land seems better after taking a crop of beans from it, as 27 Soy Beans the nodules on the roots seem to store nitrogen in the soil. We raised corn and beans on the same field for ten years; the crops were good, the last crop as good, or better than the first. The land had only a light coating of manure each year, am not sure whether the beans were in any way responsible for the results, but have had fine crops of clover after raising soy beans on the land. The three constituents of feed are protein, carbohydrates and fat. The protein being the .part which is most expensive to buy, but a very necessary element as milk is rich in protein, and requires large quantities of feeds which produce protein. This is the reason, as most farmers know, for buying such feeds as bran, oil-meal, and cotton-seed meal etc, to produce the best flow, of milk in the dairy herd. Experiments made by some of the ex- 28 TAKEN FROM THE SIDE OF FIELD WHEN PARTLY CUT. Advantages of Raising; with Corn periment stations, as well as myself, indicate that soy beans grown on the home farm, will produce protein at a great re- duction of cost. The excellency of the soy bean as a dairy-feed, both in the form of roughage and soy bean meal, is not theory alone. In Tennessee a very careful experiment was made comparing soy bean meal with cotton seed meal, soy bean straw with corn strover, and soy bean hay with alfalfa hay; pound for pound the soy bean meal was found to be slightly superior to cotton seed meal, in the amount of milk and butter-fat produced. The soy bean straw proved to be worth about twelve per cent more, pound for pound as a milk and fat producer, than corn stover. As compared with alfalfa hay, soy bean hay was found about ten per cent more valuable as a milk-producer, and nearly twenty per cent superior as a butter-fat 29 Soy Beans producer, as given in the Breeder's Gaz- ette. Following is a table showing the com- parative values of soy bean seed, bran, and linseed meal. Protein Carbohydrates Fat Soy Bean i 34 per cent j 28.8 per cent j 16.9 per cent Bran J 154 per cent 53.9 per cent ' 4 per cent Linseed Meal j 32.9 per cent | 35.4 per cent [ 7 9 per cent Analysis of soy bean plant and seed, when nearly ripe, and ready for the silo. DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS Dry Matter 26.8 per cent Cnrbohydrates 10.8 per c't Proteim 4 per cent Fat 8 per cent The crop of corn and beans on one of our fields was weighed by a professor from Cornell Agricultural college. The following are his figures; on land planted to two rows of corn and beans mixed, and every third row beans alone, the yield was twenty two tons, one thousand four hundred forty pounds per acre, of which nineteen per cent was beans. 30 Advantages of Raising with Corn On the area planted solidly to corn and beans, that is without each third row beans, per acre was twenty-seven tons four hun- dred pounds, with eleven and one half per cent beans. On the area where no beans were planted the yield of corn was twenty four tons per acre. This last area was not quite comparable with the other two, as the general growth of the corn on this part of the field was not quite so good as where corn and beans were combined. The corn weighed was on the heaviest part of the field, the entire field would not average quite this, as in some places the corn was smaller, but the beans were good, averaging twenty per cent or more, but one fact that will be seen by the fore- going is that a better growth of corn was produced where the beans were grown with it than where the corn was grown alone. 31 The Experiences of a Few of the Farmers Who Raise Soy Beans /^VNE man in a nearby town raised a ^^ crop of beans and corn, with a fine growth of beans, and pnt them in the silo, feeding the ensilage to his cows through the winter, and in the spring when the cows were turned out to pasture, they did not gain at all, in the flow of milk. One neighbor, Mr. B., tried the beans one year, and said he could see no bene- fit from them; he bought about beans enough to plant three acres, and mixed them through all of his seed corn (raising about fifteen acres,) so of course the small amount of beans as compared with the corn in the silage, failed to make any not- ticeable gain in the flow of milk. Mr. S. of Herkimer Co., after raising the soy beans for nearly ten years, is able 32 Experiences of a Few of the Farmers now to almost entirely eliminate his grain bill; he does not raise the largest ensilage corn, but a medium, or smaller variety, and plants a generous amount of beans in the hill with the corn, thus securing a good amount of protein in the silage. Mr. P. had a poor growth of corn one year, from poor seed, or bad weather, but the beans, planted at the same time, grew abundantly, and when feeding the silage he found he had too much protein, and so added some corn-meal to secure the best results, but this, of course, was an unusual case, the mistake usually being on the side of lack of beans. Another neighbor planted beans with a part of his corn, and had the mixed sil- age in the middle of the silo; he did not do any weighing, but found when feeding the mixed silage there was a gain in milk, then when he reached the bottom of the silo and fed the clear corn silage again, he found his cows shrunk in milk again. Mr. B. one of the most prominent farm- 33 Soy Beans ers in the vicinity, was much pleased with the results of feeding soy beans: he raised fine bred calves, which were sold for high prices, and he was loud in his praises of the soy bean silage, for feeding calves; he considered it superior to alfalfa as a protein feed. Another man who owns a farm near, and raises soy beans, says the corn which has the beans in the hill is much larger and better, so that in going near the field the difference is noticeable, the corn grown with the beans being several inches higher than that grown alone. In his experience he has found four ad- vantages in growing soy beans — First: The saving of grain bills. Second: They increase the fertility of the soil. Third: They increase the growth of the corn, and Fourth : They tend to keep the weeds down. There are other men in the vicinity who have raised the beans for several years, but their experiences are practically simi- lar to some of the others mentioned. 34 Summary T)E sure to test the seed thoroughly to *-* see if it will germinate, and plant seed enough to allow for eight to twelve seed that will grow in each hill. Be sure to plant corn and beans at the same time ; many have failed here by wait- ing till the corn was up, then planting beans, but this method always fails, as the beans do not mature. A good way to begin the growing of soy beans is to raise at first an acre or two with corn, and put in the silo by itself, marking with a few bundles of straw, then when this silage is reached in the silo, ex- periment by gradually dropping off a part of the grain from the cows, and note re- sults. If your first crop is not quite satisfac- 35 Soy Beans tory or the inoculation is not apparent, do not be discouraged, but plant again on the same land, spreading the manure which was made while feeding the bean silage back on the land where the beans are raised. Don't plant a few seed all through the corn to try, and expect to obtain results, but plant liberally as far as you go. Use the Medium Green bean in the North. 36 SEEDS I Offer High Quality Seeds Alfalfa, tested at Washington, Red Clover, Alsike, Timothy, Pure Red Top, Orchard Grass, Seed Oats, Barley, Rye, Wheat, and all Farm Seeds and Supplies. Would recommend especially our Eureka Ensilage Corn Iowa Gold Mine Corn Early Medium Green Soy Beans Canada Cluster Oats and Ideal Mangel Beets Each are of such exceptional merit that a trial will prove very profitable. (Established over 40 years) F. H. EBELING Syracuse, N. Y. MAB 80 1W4