THE SOYA BEAN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 249, 2 August 1937, Page 10

THE SOYA BEAN.

MOST WONDERFUL PLANT. I stood in a pleasant garden at Chiswick and watched a white-haired 79-year-old botanist take a handful of black, brown, and yellow beans, and start planting them, one by one, writes Andrew Kidd in an English journal. Superficially, they seemed dull, insignificant beans. But they were as magical as any that Jack ever planted to produce the fabulous beanstalk. For the botanist, Mr J. L. North, former curator of the Bo;fal Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park, has at last discovered four varieties of soya beans that will flourish in England. More than 30 years of experiment on these Manchurian beans have yielded varieties that will grow in Britain, that may save Britain from starvation -Ji the event of a war-time food blockade. Because the soya bean is the.most magic bean in the world. ■ “For centuries,” Mr North told me, “it has been the staple food of 700,000,000 people in the. Far East, since it gives an excellent flour. “There are about 3000 varieties, and T have tested between 200 and 300. Now I have isolated .suitable types which I have named ‘Black O,’ ‘Brown C,’ ‘Green Jap/ and ‘Yellow J.’ ” Seeds from Mr North’s plants will be sown over hundreds of acres this year. Many farmers have adopted the soya bean as a rotation crop. Once the soya bean is extensively cultivated in Britain, the nation will have acquired a priceless food and industrial asset. For this magic bean ca.n provide: Vegetable milk that has all tlio qualities of cow’s milk; first-class margarine j sauces, cheese. And for industry it yields: Oil glue, and enamel; soaps, celluloid,- ’anti -glycerine ; rubber substitute for linoleums, waterproof goods; in in <• jngj ink and casein, a, ‘transparent glasslike material. Full exploitation of the soya bean might raise the standard of living throughout Britain. - Mr Henry Ford uses a bushel of soya beans for every motor-car ho produces in the' United States Byproducts of the beau are turned into steering wheel rims, door-handles, horn buttons, gear-shift knobs, and switches. When Mr Henry Ford started a. soya bean farm in Essex, Mr North was called in as adviser. The farm is flourishing to-day, and industrialists and agriculturists throughout Britain are following its progress closely. “Without doubt this is the most wonderful plant in the world,” Mr North added.