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The Planting

Categories: OTHER LEGUMES AND CEREAL CATCH CROPS

Early varieties of the soybean in the south can be

planted as late as mid-summer, but farther north a profitable crop

requires nearly all of the summer heat. The planting may be made soon

after the usual time of planting corn, or whenever the ground has

become warm. The preparation of the soil should be more thorough than

that often given the cowpea. Solid drilling of five pecks of seed per

acre is satisfactory when th
crop is for fertilizing purposes only,

and gives an excellent hay on land free of weeds. When the crop is

wanted for hay, however, wheat usually will follow, and it is much

better to plant in rows and to give two or three cultivations so that

the ground may be easily prepared for the wheat.



A seed crop should be grown in rows. Three pecks of seed in rows 28

inches apart is the usual amount.



The soybean does not come up through a crusted surface as well as most

other plants, and planting should not be made immediately before a

rain. The plants are tender and easily injured by use of a weeder.



The fertilizer requirement is like that of the cowpea. An application

of 200 pounds of acid phosphate per acre should be given, and the

addition of 50 pounds of muriate of potash often pays.



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