THE SOY BEAN

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 691, 17 November 1933, Page 4

THE SOY BEAN

VARIETY OF USE CULTIVATION POSSIBILr IN THE ROTORUA DISTRICT GROWTH IN N.Z. UNLIKEl Recently interest has beem in Rotorua in the cultivation $ Soy oil bean, and the followingj which has been contributed t • Director-General of Agriculture Reakes) , through Mr. C. H. Cljj M.P., will therefore be of interj The Soy bean is a very imjj pulse crop in many eastern cocj — Manchuria, China, Japan, Jav| India — where it is used largelj for human and stock food. It j tensively gi-own in the United S and more or less in all tropical, tries. In Australia its cultivatis been often recommended, butj not developed except i'n certain ities and in New Zealapd has tried in an experimental way although many of the varieties well here, it is rather do.uhtful particular role the crop would j farm management. Apart from r' mestic use in the East 'the maia sation of the Soy bean is in co; tion with Soy bean oil, usedj variety of purposes, and Soy cattle cake valuable as stock fee offshoot from the oil extractinj cess. The cheapness, howeyei Eastern-grown S'oy b.eans in Eurc markets precludes any possibili developing any export trade ij beans, and there is certainly jc parent outlook for the establist of oil extraction here. Variety of Uses Apart from its rnain use as a plant the Soy bean is credited \ variety of uses that on the face would indicate that it should valuable crop. These may be e erated : — 1. It produces a good bulk o! tritious forage, and it has been i ly recommended as a valuable ft crop for stbck. 2. It makes good hay, more oi comparable with clover hay. 3. It makes good ensilage. 4. It is a soil improving crop all clovers. 5. The beans grpund make at cellent meal used in eonjunctior other meals of a lesser oil coi and can also be fed in moderatict ground. 6. The residue from oil extra make a valuable stock feeding From the above one might b clined to think that it is a crop \ out which the farmer could ha get along, but in point of fact, hard to think what place in fani it could really prove valuable, f ar as supplementary forage is c cerned the ordinary forage « grown in New Zealand yield jod much and are just as valuable. i .hay or ensilage crop it is not nee in a country where grass gocs waste, and is in any case no be than lucerne or a good clover e As a soil improving crop for gi manuring it offers no marked ads tage over many that are as e> grown, and so far as a concentu stock feeding material is concer until such time as concentrates really used in New Zealand then no particular place for it. It might to a limited exteni used as a forage crop in certain oi warmer parts of New Zealand, at also might be used to a limited ei for pig feeding just as is ath'r done with such a crop as peas. 4 Personally, I do not anticipatet any extensive growing of Soy be will develop in New Zealand.