THE SOYA BEAN.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1303, 5 December 1911, Page 10

THE SOYA BEAN.

'•'HISTORY,' PROGRESS, AKD H!0- .- .. : SI'ECTS. " • ■ THo remarkable commercial importance of the Soya bean of Jlanchuria, which now, is being'grown 'in' ditferent parts'of Jxe'w Zealand, is wry-stronglv emphasised by;_t recognition of . tho Cliiniso ImPWftl - Maritime • Customs'. Under their authority, has been . issued a valuable publiciitifm, crimplctb with "maps and fully . . ted, compiled I>v, Jlr. Jsorman Shiiw, of _ the Imperial- Customs-House at liairen, ■ in which ho discusscs the history of, the soya bean industry mid the causes for its sudden rise to prominence, ilus product now. equals in valrip the exports .of'tea, a fact that warrants the publication of the following information, taken from this report, which'constitutes a summary ,of ;t s most interesting and valuable features':—''Soya., bcalis are v«rv resistant to drought, can endure slight frosts, and-are capable-of-wftlisfandms oft moisture, -being-...superior even fo, mai//0. and (!oiv peas in this re®tl€£s / •V I ®**-. £ 10 xf best 'as'ex per iinei! Is conducted in Europe and America' have shown, m soils' of medium' texture' containing fair quantities of potash,-liine, and phosphoric, acid. Good results have some-v-ni',s '.?® n ' obttjined-- ■in ■ comparatively jlgat:soils, an abundant crop is «orneturiesiprodaccifl on land .too poor", for oloTer.'■ In . SoiHh 'Carolina Rood "results flayo been obtained on sahdv, limeslone ov many, soils, and also on drained swamp or 'peaty [finds'. 'In Manchuria this experience is borne out, as beans are to en «f r S' vill . K , . evel 7«'here, and even Y 0 " rl .shifl,?.in quite sandv soil, V.vlt regard to the.yield of seed b'v the BOjri lieali) there is considerable variation in tho iigures given. Sir Alexander Hosie state;: that the yield per acre, which requires from 1G fo 181b. or" seed; is estimated at-iron, 27 to 39 bushels, with a wcrjht of about 101b. per bushel'—that isfrom. 1100 to irMb,per acre ; A com- • uiorcial authority, pives from 12 to 1H 1 .picnls, or lCCfl'to 18001b. per acre, 'the higher figure representing-tho production in fhe districts rouiul the great collecting centro of .Changchun. In the United «iinW j -h t 1 7 u ' 0, - r approaches any-, ■nch. fwire that fot.-black b'oahs 'being particularly low-from 4 to 12 bushels p<r aero only. The -green- —varieties-'-givo «d g b,L b0 I T\' lts 7 tl '« lowest record- : nnri fi ■?■ W el ® f< » the ,'Samarow,' and the highest,-. -IS- bushels for - the Z lßl R h 1,1 . Indiana, while in Ontario 11 nf crop " ls t r! }'' sc ' l ln ' Cah »da also) tiJ i « Ktccn, fodder: per acre were returned, tho large .sizo and feqlv. brandling habit of tfiis ... variety , making it eapeoial.y valuable, as,a' pasture, Jiay silage, and cov ,r crop. The yellow-seeded "bushels to tho acre; and m.Kentucky tho 'Amherst' l!?i S ), l 9 *' o V!°) v ". give as much as 40 bushels, wh„„ j s at l east \as iffi 6 "an 1 o , bl ? ine . d in Manchuria ii ? ■ 1110s ' detailed figures obtainable wore those supplied bv the kindness ot,a Japanese agricultural expert, which nu> summarised hero as follow:—iS-thS Tiehhng district, 4!) bushels to the acrt • from Ghangtu eastwards to Hwaijen and vT• t° 31 i bllsll(!l s; and in the poorer districts, from Fcnghwangchentr to"S ifr S® a onlv n r''i- C maxi 'mum or !•>. PH-n15,..t0 the acre, which Jigure, thpngh seemingly very ln r, h' co--n^ponds■ with an estimato-made "as' lon-' ago ns 18fi< by the Rev. A; Williamson" life-' f V ii / t,l ° Sungari district at that tunc, and who apnears to iiavo been a very close observer." . y ,e rnr.Kust the beans are put to ft %-arie.r.y. of uses. . As a foodstuiT thev are maiio into bean sauce, or soy, called in Japan snoyn'. (whence.the name "sova") nn< also into a paste, which tho Chinese cal chiang. This is ni!uic b> . farmprs> and oalon wjth-fish,.meat, and vegetables. Bean enrd is also made from the green o??A,. y i i- a 1 ~A ll tllo - so foodstuffs entor largoly. into tho diet-of Chinese Japanese, and Koreans, the bean plavinthO most important part among sub'sidiftry crops in Japan, as testified by the latest returns of bean consumption in that !i 0 ,7& ~0 / a „ taM consumption of 8,178,300 koku, wero used for tucking miso, 890,400 for tofu, and GOO,OOO JKL, 11 i 0 > ans aro also-consumed-in the form of flour, as a table vegetable, SoU! 'f• iB Jn P«n are used for making confoctioncry, whilst bean refuse thn U hnL aS a i • f l rtilisßr - an(l for fattening tho hoj,s, which aro such a familiar feature in the Chinese farmyard. Beau oil is used, where it has not been superseded by keroseno oil, as an iltuminant one attraction which it possesses fas has hriL P tw "I"' 1,1 - a ConsnLif report; that iio lamp ls necessary to hold it, tjw wick being inserted into tho basin or plato containing the oil; this seems but tons,t '° J r ation, but, in point r f <hr;ffvk C -°" S '' 1 abfo . iTeight' with the thrifty Chinese peasant. The oil is used, as a substitute for. lard, in cookiii-. Although it is inferior to rape seed ami sesamum oils for this purpose (he™ oils In n snit n C °n r f P i e i t0 Witl ,' U"! P° int of "*«*■ in spito of its unpleasant characteristic odour and unpalatability, the noore? classes m thina consmnft it in its crude etato, but among the rich it is boiled and r&MI 1 I i"""', !laS becon,e jlarincd. As a Jubricont, bean oil is for greasing aslos and parts of n.i'ive E a . 1 f?' ;r r ln " 3e ln t,le nrfs nn d erafls. tor tno formor purpnsj li.rgo iinant ; Hes are consumed in North China and Manfnv'tlfe ,„?f r i" Snut J l Ch " ,n "O foi the making of .waterproof doth, nnoer umbrellas, and lanterns, and the oil is WsO mixed with lacquer for manufacturing varnish and printing ink. One of th* pr.'ncipl „ws to which bean oil is applied- in Litropo is in soap manufacturing, for winch purpose it cnii made use of in its aiule slate. The scarcity of cotton seed oil in recent years has forced manufacturers to find a suilable oil as Ml nlternalive, and bean oil, at an attractively low Gguro, was eagerly resorted to.' '