8,743
edits
Changes
From Gardenology.org - Plant Encyclopedia and Gardening Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to searchno edit summary
{{Inc|
Soybean (Glycine Soja, formerly called G. hispida) is a legume, long a staple crop in Japan, but somewhat recently cultivated more or less extensively in the United States. (Figs. 479, 483.) In its native country, Japan, the seed is an important human food product, but in the United States its principal use at present is as a forage plant for farm live-stock and as a soil-renovator. It is an upright leafy branching plant, growing 3 to 4 feet high. Two distinct plants have been called soybean: the smaller one (Phaseolus aureus) is grown principally in southern Asia; the larger species, the true soybean, is Glycine Soja. This latter species has become popular in some sections of the United States because of its power of resisting drought and for the further reason that it may supply a large amount of forage rich in protein. In the northern states it is probable that the soybean will be acclimated and that it will serve as an adjunct to the maize crop as a food for stock, although it is coarse in leaf and stalk.
It thrives best upon a warm well-drained loamy soil, and seed should not be planted until all danger from frost is over. The land should be prepared by plowing and harrowing in the early spring, and the harrow should be used two or three times before the seeds are planted. Best success is attained by planting in drills, rows to be from 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart and the hills in the row 18 to 20 inches apart. During the early periods of growth, cultivation should be frequent, preferably with a fine-toothed implement. After the plants have grown so that the ground is well shaded, the tillage may be discontinued. It is doubtful whether the curing of the plants for hay will ever come into general practice, but the crop may be largely grown for green soiling and for ensilage purposes. It may be cut into the silo with corn and serves to improve the quality of the food.
To the horticulturist the soybean is valuable chiefly as a soil-renovator. The soil of the orchard can be given clean culture during the early summer and the soybeans may be sown broadcast about July 1 and harrowed in. One bushel of seed to the acre will be required. One bushel of rye to the acre should be sown at the same time, for when the beans are killed down by the frost in the fall the rye will then serve as a cover-crop for the winter. When the soil is so hard and forbidding that clover will not thrive, the soybean may be made to serve as a nitrogen-gatherer. See Glycine.
}}
{{Taxobox
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| color = lightgreen
