For centuries the soybean has been cultivated been used for food by people in the
orient the soybean belongs to the same family of plants as do our
common beans and P.
This Chinese farmer finds that his crop of beans is of up fine quality
and ready for harvesting that will be enough for his own family
and some left to sell the cultivation of soybeans was
begun extensively in the United States about one thousand nine hundred eighteen.
Since
that time it has been studied intensively by Granma since several agricultural experiment
stations experiments are carried on in small plots of so I beans to discover the
best varieties of the hundreds known
and the best methods of cultivation trained observers What's the plants in all the
stages of their growth to see if the beans have desirable characteristics
this soil expert Dr Blake is particularly interested in the SO I mean as a means of
conserving the fertility of the saw
and if used correctly the soybean is
a good soil builder like most Legume plants the soybean has the power of using the
nitrogen in the air provided the roots are well not too late and.
These not duals contain bacteria
and it is these which convert the nitrogen of the air into a form
that the plant canoes for this reason the soybean is a valuable plant in crop
rotation and soil conservation.
These nitrogen fixing bacteria may be grown in laboratories these cabinets assure
the proper temperature for Growth the tiny bacteria grow on a jelly medium which
supplies them with unnecessary nourishment.
These bacteria are sometimes mixed with peat before they are marketed the farmer
may mix the peat containing bacteria with water and inoculate the seed by spraying.
Then he mixes the seeds thoroughly and lets them dry.
The Agronomist keeps in very close touch with the actual work of the farmer
for this reason he makes frequent visits to a nearby farm.
As the agronomist drives along the country road he observes this bill of corn which
might have been better if soybeans had been used in a good crop rotation.
Good morning Mrs Hale Good morning Dr Blake.
Do you remember that sample of edible stories that you gave me last fall.
Yes this is our first man.
I'm glad that I turned out so well what can I find Bill this morning.
I think he's lying in the bean field about a half a mile. Down the road. Thank you.
Goodbye goodbye.
As Dr Blake is driving past Mr Hill's fields.
He notices this buying growth of corn due largely to a rotation including so I be
Mr Hill is cutting these so I beings but hey what he will feed to his cattle
and horses during the winter months
of growing bell. There to do a little bit heavy this morning.
But the sun is bright enough now it looks to me like a pretty good crop.
I'd say a cut of the just the right time. If you waited much longer.
I'm afraid the hay would have become stemming from last summer the lady.
Yes and I hope that I can get him before we have any more rain.
And you notice my field of beans on the south forty.
I saw your bean crop couple of weeks ago looked promising then yes I'll be ready
for the combine another month.
A few weeks later we find Mr Hill harvesting his soybeans with a modern combine
like that used for wheat
and oats the Combine has done much to make the soybean a
popular crop the beans are cut
and priced all in one operation the straw containing much nitrogen
is guttered back on the land as fertilizer.
When the hopper gets full the beans are run into a waiting truck.
The beans now start on their way to the local grain elevators.
From here they are shipped by train the processing plants in a nearby city.
First the soybeans are cracked the cracked beans are fed to the six butlers after
they have been heated then these sixteen pipes to about two hundred degrees.
The crack. So I mean then enter the cylinder
and are subjected to a pressure of about sixteen thousand songs per square inch the
great pressure with the help of the high temperature forces the all out of the bean
they are.
From all the expeller is next to force through this large filter to remove sediment
the crystal clear. I'll drips out along the side of the filtered.
Soybean oil finds extensive used in pain
and in the manufacture of linoleum but most of it.
Is used in making shortenings only a margarine and salad dressing.
In the compressor the soybean cake emerges at the end of the shaft
much of this case goes back to the farm where it makes a find feed for dairy cattle
these steers have made excellent gains on a feed containing soybean meal
many industrial chemists are working to find new uses for soybean oil
and soybean meal this chemist.
Dr Brothers is striving to improve the process by which the soybean meal is made
into a hardened strong plastic after long
and tedious labor in the research laboratory.
They may discover new procedures
or new products which the engineering chemists can put into large scale production.
The chemist towards the soybean meal into this mechanical mixer.
Then it is transferred to these rollers which makes the soybean meal with the other
ingredients
that go into the manufacture of plastic before casting the mixture into a plastic
the chemist tests it in this machine which is called a flow tester.
This curve indicates the plasticity of the mixture
or door under increasing pressure the chemist also
inspects the piece
but he uses asbestos gloves because the pressure has made it hot.
Having passed the test the mixture is reduced to a powder
and poured into this mold which will determine the shape of the finished object.
Of the mold is then placed in this hydraulic press.
Here the soybean meal is well the Dunder a pressure of about two thousand pounds
per square inch.
And at a temperature of more than three hundred degrees.
In this way the soybean is transformed by science and technology into parts
that find many everyday uses
in research laboratories the finished plastic products are subjected.
To in numerable test this Flexeril testing machine
reveals the strength of the object.
Thus we are led to appreciate the relationship of modern science to agriculture on
the one hand
and industry to agriculture on the other the agronomist strives to increase land
productivity.
While the chemist works to find new industrial uses for the products of the farm.