ate varies so widely, that a
fair comparison is difficult to make. In cool latitudes the soybean is
recognized as distinctly more profitable, making larger yields of vines
and of seed. Where adaptation is equal, the cowpea makes a slightly
larger growth of vines for hay, but the soybean gives a much richer lot
of seed for use as grain.

When soil fertility is the chief consideration, the adaptation of
climate and soil should decide our choice between these two legumes.
There is no serious difference where conditions for each are equally
good. In cool latitudes the soybean should be chosen. In the Ohio
Valley it is usually to be preferred. The greater part of the organic
matter and the plant-food is stored in the vines and seed.

Feeding Value.--The soybean makes a rich hay, surpassing clover, but it
is coarse, and its unattractive appearance has caused many farmers to
condemn it without trial. Livestock eat it greedily, and it is one of
our richest coarse feeds. The curing is more difficult than in the case
of the cowpea because the leaves drop early, and the plants must be
harvested before they approach maturity.

Probably the large yield of rich seed is the most important feature of
the soybean crop. A ton of the seed contains as much protein as a ton
of old-process oil meal, and three fourths as much as a ton of
cottonseed meal. A good crop of the soybean will yield 18 to 20 bushels
of seed, and as the nitrogen may be obtained chiefly from the air, the
protein from this crop will come to be a leading substitute for
purchased protein feeds.

Varieties.--There are many varieties of the soybean, and their
characteristics are modified by climatic conditions. Each region will
find the varieties best suited to its purposes by tests. When hay is
wanted, the variety should have fine stems and a leafy habit of growth.
It may not be a good producer of seed, or able to hold the seed
unshattered. The harvesting should be done when some lower leaves turn
brown and before the pods are half filled. This stage of maturity
should be reached early enough in the fall to insure some hot days for
making the hay, and to permit harvesting in time for seeding to wheat.
The preparation for wheat is made with the harrow and roller or plank
drag.

When the soybean is grown for seed, the variety should hold the peas
without undue shattering, and an erect grower is more easily handled
without loss of the crop. Varieties for regions will va