Mink
Mink are dark-colored, carnivorous mammals of the genera Neovison and Mustela, part of the family Mustelidae which includes weasels and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the European mink; the extinct sea mink was much larger. The American mink is larger and more adaptable than the European mink but, due to variations in size, an individual mink cannot be determined as European or American with certainty without looking at the skeleton. Taxonomically, both American and European mink were placed in the same genus Mustela, but most the American mink has been reclassified as belonging to its own genus Neovison; the American mink's fur has been prized for use in clothing, with hunting giving way to farming. Their treatment on fur farms has been a focus of animal welfare activism. American mink have established populations in Europe and South America, after being released from mink farms by animal rights activists, or otherwise escaping from captivity. In the UK, under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal to release mink into the wild.
In some countries, any live mink caught in traps must be humanely killed. American mink are believed by some to have contributed to the decline of the less hardy European mink through competition. Trapping is used to eliminate introduced American mink populations. Mink oil is used in some medical products and cosmetics, as well as to treat and waterproof leather. European mink Mustela lutreola American mink Neovison vison Sea mink Neovison macrodon The male weighs about 1 kg and is about 62 cm in length. Farm bred; the female reaches a length of about 51 cm. The sizes above do not include the tail. A mink's rich glossy coat in its wild state is brown and looks silky, but farm-bred mink can vary from white to black, reflected in the British wild mink, their pelage is deep, rich brown, with or without white spots on the underparts, consists of a slick, dense underfur overlaid with dark, glossy stiff guard hairs. The breeding season ends in March. Mink show the curious phenomenon of delayed implantation.
Although the true gestation period is 39 days, the embryo may stop developing for a variable period, so that as long as 76 days may elapse before the litter arrives. Between 45 and 52 days is normal. There is only one litter per year, they may have between 10 kits per litter. Litters as large as 16 have been recorded in fur farms, though they are rare. Mink are kept in captivity for the production of their fur, they are kept in battery cages and exhibit stereotypies. These abnormal, repetitive behaviours increase near their feeding time pacing and cage biting, both of which are thought to be the captive equivalent of hunting by the mink. Stereotypies have been noted to increase during human presence. To attempt to eliminate stereotypies in captive mink, the National Farm Animal Care Council has implemented regulations on incorporating environmental enrichments into mink cages. Enrichments are pen-related alterations or the addition of novel objects to improve the mink's physical and psychological health.
Enrichments may help reduce the onset of stereotypies, but decrease or eliminate them. Because of this, enrichments should be introduced early in life as a preventive measure; the National Farm Animal Care Council stated that ‘juvenile female pastel mink raised with access to a nest box performed fewer stereotypies from mid-September to late October than those without access to a nest box.’ Due to this, mink have access year round to a nest box and spend the majority of their time resting within. Thus, the availability and quality of the nest box play a large role in the prevention of stereotypies and a role in the animals' welfare; the maximum lifespan of a mink is around ten years, but exceed three years in the wild. Mink prey on fish and other aquatic life, small mammals and eggs. Mink raised on farms eat expired cheese, fish and poultry slaughterhouse byproducts, dog food, turkey livers, as well as prepared commercial foods. A farm with 3,000 mink may use as much as two tons of food per day.
In all, US mink farms use about 200,000 tons of dairy products. Great horned owls, foxes, coyotes and humans are all natural predators of mink. Mink are hunted to protect the fish population in lakes and rivers, but are becoming endangered because of this, they are trapped for their fur. Mink like to live near water and are found far from riverbanks and marshes; when roaming, they tend to follow streams and ditches. Sometimes they leave the water altogether for a few hundred meters when looking for rabbits, one of their favorite foods. In some places in Scotland and in Iceland, where they have become a problem, they live along the seashore. Sometimes they live in towns. Mink may be present at all hours when people are nearby. Mink are territorial animals. A male mink will not tolerate anothe
Egret
Egrets are herons which have white or buff plumage, develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Egrets have the same build. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets; the distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French word "aigrette" that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season. Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years: the great egret, for example, has been classified as a member of either Casmerodius, Egretta or Ardea. In the 19th and early part of the 20th century, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentless plume hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded large numbers of egret plumes, leading to breeding birds being killed in many places around the world.
Several Egretta species, including the eastern reef egret, the reddish egret, the western reef egret have two distinct colours, one of, white. The little blue heron has all-white juvenile plumage. Great egret or great white egret, Ardea alba Intermediate egret, Mesophoyx intermedia Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis Little egret Egretta garzetta Eastern reef egret or Pacific reef heron, Egretta sacra Western reef egret or western reef heron, Egretta gularis Snowy egret, Egretta thula Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens Slaty egret, Egretta vinaceigula Black egret, Egretta ardesiaca Chinese egret, Egretta eulophotes Egrets hunt and live in both saltwater and freshwater marshes. Media related to Ardeidae at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Ardeidae at Wikispecies Well written and illustrated Egret article Encyclopaedia Britannica Great egret Ardea alba—USGS
George Washington
George Washington was an American political leader, military general and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War of Independence, he presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the new federal government, he has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation. Washington received his initial military training and command with the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he was appointed Commanding General of the nation's Continental Army. Washington allied with France, in the defeat of the British at Yorktown. Once victory for the United States was in hand in 1783, Washington resigned his commission. Washington played a key role in the adoption and ratification of the Constitution and was elected president by the Electoral College in the first two elections.
He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while sanctioning the Jay Treaty, he set enduring precedents for the office of president, including the title "President of the United States", his Farewell Address is regarded as a pre-eminent statement on republicanism. Washington utilized slave labor and trading African American slaves, but he became troubled with the institution of slavery and freed them in his 1799 will, he was a member of the Anglican Church and the Freemasons, he urged tolerance for all religions in his roles as general and president. Upon his death, he was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." He has been memorialized by monuments, geographical locations and currency, many scholars and polls rank him among the top American presidents. Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, England to the British Colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5,000 acres of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River.
George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. His father was a justice of the peace and a prominent public figure who had three additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler; the family moved to Little Hunting Creek to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited ten slaves. Washington did not have the formal education that his older brothers received at Appleby Grammar School in England, but he did learn mathematics and surveying, he was talented in draftsmanship and map-making. By early adulthood, he was writing with "considerable force" and "precision."Washington visited Mount Vernon and Belvoir, the plantation that belonged to Lawrence's father-in-law William Fairfax, which fueled ambition for the lifestyle of the planter aristocracy. Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father, Washington spent a month in 1748 with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property.
He received a surveyor's license the following year from the College of Mary. He resigned from the job in 1750 and had bought 1,500 acres in the Valley, he owned 2,315 acres by 1752. In 1751, Washington made his only trip abroad when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, hoping that the climate would cure his brother's tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip, which immunized him but left his face scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow. Lawrence's service as adjutant general of the Virginia militia inspired Washington to seek a commission, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed him as a major in December 1752 and as commander of one of the four militia districts; the British and French were competing for control of the Ohio Valley at the time, the British building forts along the Ohio River and the French doing between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. In October 1753, Dinwiddie appointed Washington as a special envoy to demand that the French vacate territory which the British had claimed.
Dinwiddie appointed him to make peace with the Iroquois Confederacy and to gather intelligence about the French forces. Washington met with Half-King Tanacharison and other Iroquois chiefs at Logstown to secure their promise of support against the French, his party reached the Ohio River in November, they were intercepted by a French patrol and escorted to Fort Le Boeuf where Washington was received in a friendly manner. He delivered the British demand to vacate to French commander Saint-Pierre, but the French refused to leave. Saint-Pierre gave Washington his official answer in a sealed envelope after a few days' delay, he gave Washington's party food and extra winter clothing for the trip back to Virginia. Washington completed the precarious mission in 77 days in difficult winter conditions and achieved a measure of distinction when his report was published in Virginia and London. In February 1754, Dinwiddie promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia R
Mercer County, Ohio
Mercer County is a county located in the U. S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,814, its county seat is Celina. The county was created in 1820 and organized in 1824, it is named for an officer in the American Revolutionary War. Mercer County comprises OH Micropolitan Statistical Area. Mercer County was founded in 1820. Land south of the Greenville Treaty Line was still part of Darke County. An act establishing Mercer County took place on January 2, 1824. In 1837 Van Wert County was detached and the county line established is the current northern border of Mercer County. In 1839 Celina was established as the capital of Mercer County, St. Marys, Ohio was the previous capital. In 1848 the area south of the Greenville Treaty Line to the current southern county line, was attached; when Auglaize County, Ohio was formed, Mercer County's eastern border was moved 6 miles west with the exception of the area south of the Greenville Treaty line. This created the sharp point at Mercer County's south-east corner and was the last county line modification.
In the mid to late 1800s Mercer county became home to many German immigrants, most of whom became farmers in the new world. Many of these German immigrants migrated from northwestern Germany. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 473 square miles, of which 462 square miles is land and 11 square miles is water; the entire county has an elevation difference of less than 300 feet. The highest point is on the southern county line at 1071 feet above sea level; this is in proximity to the head waters for the Wabash River. The lowest point in the county is 780 feet above sea level; this point is located on the northern county line. Mercer County has two rivers running through it; the Wabash watershed is part of the Gulf of Mexico's watershed. The St. Marys watershed is part of Lake Erie's watershed. Creeks between these two watersheds are within a mile of each other at some places in Mercer County; this area/line that divides the drainage basins is known as the St. Lawrence Continental Divide Beaver Creek is the longest and largest creek in Mercer County.
It has two sections. The first section begins in southern farmland in the county and flows through the town of Montezuma and into Grand Lake St. Marys; the other section of the creek begins as empties into the Wabash River. Beaver Creek was one piece, but was split into two sections after the construction of Grand Lake; the creeks' spillway, last section, has been the subject of controversy and multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Farmers along Beaver Creek claim their land floods because of the spillway, put up in 1997, replacing the previous spillway, built in 1913. Mercer County has a 3-member Board of County Commissioners that oversee the various County departments, similar to all but 2 of the 88 Ohio counties. Mercer County's elected commissioners are: Jerry Laffin, Rick Muhlenkamp, Greg Homan. Van Wert County Auglaize County Shelby County Darke County Jay County, Indiana Adams County, Indiana As of the census of 2010, there were 40,814 people, 14,756 households, 11,022 families residing in the county.
The population density was 88 people per square mile. There were 15,875 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 98.44% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, 0.56% from two or more races. 1.15% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 14,756 households out of which 37.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.10% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, 25.30% were non-families. 22.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.24. In the county, the population was spread out with 29.60% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years.
For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,742, the median income for a family was $50,157. Males had a median income of $35,508 versus $22,857 for females; the per capita income for the county was $18,531. About 4.60% of families and 6.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.90% of those under age 18 and 7.80% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 40,814 people, 15,532 households, 11,172 families residing in the county; the population density was 88.3 inhabitants per square mile. There were 17,633 housing units at an average density of 38.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97.4% white, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% Pacific islander, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.6% from other races, 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 58.7% were German, 8.8% were American, 8.3% were Irish, 6.2% were English.
Of the 15,532 households, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.1% were non-families, 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size wa
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, tend to be named differently because they are white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks; the classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, no clear consensus exists about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera and Egretta. The relationships of the genera in the family are not resolved. However, one species considered to constitute a separate monotypic family, the Cochlearidae or the boat-billed heron, is now regarded as a member of the Ardeidae.
Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises and cranes, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. They are one of the bird groups that have powder down; some members of this group nest colonially in trees, while others, notably the bitterns, use reed beds. The herons are medium - to large-sized birds with long necks, they exhibit little sexual dimorphism in size. The smallest species is considered the little bittern, which can measure under 30 cm in length, although all the species in the genus Ixobrychus are small and many broadly overlap in size; the largest species of heron is the goliath heron. The necks are able to kink in an S-shape, due to the modified shape of the cervical vertebrae, of which they have 20–21; the neck is able to retract and extend, is retracted during flight, unlike most other long-necked birds. The neck is longer in the day herons than the night bitterns; the legs are long and strong and in every species are unfeathered from the lower part of the tibia.
In flight, the legs and feet are held backward. The feet of herons have thin toes, with three forward-pointing ones and one pointing backward; the bill is long and harpoon-like. It can vary from fine, as in the agami heron, to thick as in the grey heron; the most atypical bill is owned by the boat-billed heron, which has a thick bill. The bill, as well as other bare parts of the body, is yellow, black, or brown in colour, although this can vary during the breeding season; the wings are broad and long, exhibiting 10 or 11 primary feathers, 15–20 secondaries. and 12 rectrices. The feathers of the herons are soft and the plumage is blue, brown, grey, or white, can be strikingly complex. Amongst the day herons, little sexual dimorphism in plumage is seen. Many species have different colour morphs. In the Pacific reef heron, both dark and light colour morphs exist, the percentage of each morph varies geographically. White morphs only occur in areas with coral beaches; the herons are a widespread family with a cosmopolitan distribution.
They exist on all continents except Antarctica, are present in most habitats except the coldest extremes of the Arctic high mountains, the driest deserts. All species are associated with water, they are predominantly found in lowland areas, although some species live in alpine areas, the majority of species occurs in the tropics. The herons are a mobile family, with most species being at least migratory; some species are migratory, for example the grey heron, sedentary in Britain, but migratory in Scandinavia. Birds are inclined to disperse after breeding, but before the annual migration, where the species is colonial, searching out new feeding areas and reducing the pressures on feeding grounds near the colony; the migration occurs at night as individuals or in small groups. The herons and bitterns are carnivorous; the members of this family are associated with wetlands and water, feed on a variety of live aquatic prey. Their diet includes a wide variety of aquatic animals, including fish, amphibians, crustaceans and aquatic insects.
Individual species may be generalists or specialise in certain prey types, such as the yellow-crowned night heron, which specialises in crustaceans crabs. Many species opportunistically take larger prey, including birds and bird eggs and more carrion. More herons eating acorns and grains have been reported, but most vegetable matter consumed is accidental; the most common hunting technique is for the bird to sit motionless on the edge of or standing in shallow water and to wait until prey comes within range. Birds may either do this from an upright posture, giving them a wider field of view for seeing prey, or from a crouched position, more cryptic and means the bill is closer to the prey when it is located. Having seen prey, the head is moved from side to side, so that the heron can calculate the position of the prey in the water and compensate for refraction, the bill is used to spear the prey. In addition to sitting and waiting, herons may feed more actively, they may walk around or l
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, the tenth most densely populated; the state's capital and largest city is Columbus. The state takes its name from the Ohio River, whose name in turn originated from the Seneca word ohiːyo', meaning "good river", "great river" or "large creek". Partitioned from the Northwest Territory, Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803, the first under the Northwest Ordinance. Ohio is known as the "Buckeye State" after its Ohio buckeye trees, Ohioans are known as "Buckeyes". Ohio rose from the wilderness of Ohio Country west of Appalachia in colonial times through the Northwest Indian Wars as part of the Northwest Territory in the early frontier, to become the first non-colonial free state admitted to the union, to an industrial powerhouse in the 20th century before transmogrifying to a more information and service based economy in the 21st.
The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor. Ohio occupies 16 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Ohio is known for its status as both a bellwether in national elections. Six Presidents of the United States have been elected. Ohio is an industrial state, ranking 8th out of 50 states in GDP, is the second largest producer of automobiles behind Michigan. Ohio's geographic location has proven to be an asset for economic expansion; because Ohio links the Northeast to the Midwest, much cargo and business traffic passes through its borders along its well-developed highways. Ohio has the nation's 10th largest highway network and is within a one-day drive of 50% of North America's population and 70% of North America's manufacturing capacity. To the north, Lake Erie gives Ohio 312 miles of coastline. Ohio's southern border is defined by the Ohio River, much of the northern border is defined by Lake Erie. Ohio's neighbors are Pennsylvania to the east, Michigan to the northwest, Lake Erie to the north, Indiana to the west, Kentucky on the south, West Virginia on the southeast.
Ohio's borders were defined by metes and bounds in the Enabling Act of 1802 as follows: Bounded on the east by the Pennsylvania line, on the south by the Ohio River, to the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the west by the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami aforesaid, on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east after intersecting the due north line aforesaid, from the mouth of the Great Miami until it shall intersect Lake Erie or the territorial line, thence with the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line aforesaid. Ohio is bounded by the Ohio River, but nearly all of the river itself belongs to Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1980, the U. S. Supreme Court held that, based on the wording of the cessation of territory by Virginia, the boundary between Ohio and Kentucky is the northern low-water mark of the river as it existed in 1792. Ohio has only that portion of the river between the river's 1792 low-water mark and the present high-water mark.
The border with Michigan has changed, as a result of the Toledo War, to angle northeast to the north shore of the mouth of the Maumee River. Much of Ohio features glaciated till plains, with an exceptionally flat area in the northwest being known as the Great Black Swamp; this glaciated region in the northwest and central state is bordered to the east and southeast first by a belt known as the glaciated Allegheny Plateau, by another belt known as the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. Most of Ohio is of low relief, but the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau features rugged hills and forests; the rugged southeastern quadrant of Ohio, stretching in an outward bow-like arc along the Ohio River from the West Virginia Panhandle to the outskirts of Cincinnati, forms a distinct socio-economic unit. Geologically similar to parts of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, this area's coal mining legacy, dependence on small pockets of old manufacturing establishments, distinctive regional dialect set this section off from the rest of the state.
In 1965 the United States Congress passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act, an attempt to "address the persistent poverty and growing economic despair of the Appalachian Region." This act defines 29 Ohio counties as part of Appalachia. While 1/3 of Ohio's land mass is part of the federally defined Appalachian region, only 12.8% of Ohioans live there Significant rivers within the state include the Cuyahoga River, Great Miami River, Maumee River, Muskingum River, Scioto River. The rivers in the northern part of the state drain into the northern Atlantic Ocean via Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River, the rivers in the southern part of the state drain into the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio River and the Mississippi; the worst weather disaster in Ohio history occurred along the Great Miami River in 1913. Known as the Great Dayton Flood, the entire Miami River watershed flooded, including the downtown business district of Dayton; as a result, the Miami Conservancy District was created as the first major flood plain engineering project in Ohio and the United States.
Grand Lake St. Marys in the west-central part of the state was constructed as a supply of water for ca
Soybean
The soybean, or soya bean, is a species of legume native to East Asia grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Fat-free soybean meal is a significant and cheap source of protein for animal feeds and many packaged meals. For example, soybean products, such as textured vegetable protein, are ingredients in many meat and dairy substitutes; the beans contain significant amounts of dietary minerals and B vitamins. Soy vegetable oil, used in food and industrial applications, is another product of processing the soybean crop. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and tofu skin are made. Fermented soy foods include soy sauce, fermented bean paste and tempeh. "Soy" originated as a corruption of the Japanese names for soy sauce. The etymology of the genus, comes from Linnaeus; when naming the genus, Linnaeus observed that one of the species within the species had a sweet root. Based on the sweetness, the Greek word for sweet, glykós, was Latinized; the genus name is not related to the amino acid glycine.
The genus Glycine Willd. is divided into two subgenera and Soja. The subgenus Soja F. J. Herm. Includes the cultivated soybean, Glycine max Merr. and the wild soybean, Glycine soja Sieb. & Zucc. Both species are annuals. Glycine soja is the wild ancestor of Glycine max, grows wild in China, Japan and Russia; the subgenus Glycine consists of at least 25 wild perennial species: for example, Glycine canescens F. J. Herm. and G. tomentella Hayata, both found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Perennial soybean is now a widespread pasture crop in the tropics. Like some other crops of long domestication, the relationship of the modern soybean to wild-growing species can no longer be traced with any degree of certainty, it is a cultural variety with a large number of cultivars. Like most plants, soybeans grow in distinct morphological stages as they develop from seeds into mature plants; the first stage of growth is germination, a method which first becomes apparent as a seed's radicle emerges. This is the first stage of root growth and occurs within the first 48 hours under ideal growing conditions.
The first photosynthetic structures, the cotyledons, develop from the hypocotyl, the first plant structure to emerge from the soil. These cotyledons both act as leaves and as a source of nutrients for the immature plant, providing the seedling nutrition for its first 7 to 10 days; the first true leaves develop as a pair of single blades. Subsequent to this first pair, mature nodes form compound leaves with three blades. Mature trifoliolate leaves, having three to four leaflets per leaf, are between 6–15 cm long and 2–7 cm broad. Under ideal conditions, stem growth continues. Before flowering, roots can grow 1.9 cm per day. If rhizobia are present, root nodulation begins by the time. Nodulation continues for 8 weeks before the symbiotic infection process stabilizes; the final characteristics of a soybean plant are variable, with factors such as genetics, soil quality, climate affecting its form. Flowering is triggered by day length beginning once days become shorter than 12.8 hours. This trait is variable however, with different varieties reacting differently to changing day length.
Soybeans form inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers which are borne in the axil of the leaf and are white, pink or purple. Depending of the soybean variety, node growth may cease. Strains that continue nodal development after flowering are termed "indeterminates" and are best suited to climates with longer growing seasons. Soybeans drop their leaves before the seeds are mature; the fruit is a hairy pod that grows in clusters of three to five, each pod is 3–8 cm long and contains two to four seeds 5–11 mm in diameter. Soybean seeds come in a wide variety sizes and hull colors such as black, brown and green. Variegated and bicolored seed coats are common; the hull of the mature bean is hard, water-resistant, protects the cotyledon and hypocotyl from damage. If the seed coat is cracked, the seed will not germinate; the scar, visible on the seed coat, is called the hilum and at one end of the hilum is the micropyle, or small opening in the seed coat which can allow the absorption of water for sprouting.
Some seeds such as soybeans containing high levels of protein can undergo desiccation, yet survive and revive after water absorption. A. Carl Leopold began studying this capability at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University in the mid-1980s, he found soybeans and corn to have a range of soluble carbohydrates protecting the seed's cell viability. Patents were awarded to him in the early 1990s on techniques for protecting biological membranes and proteins in the dry state. Like many legumes, soybeans can fix atmospheric nitrogen, thanks to symbiotic bacteria from the Rhizobia group. Together and soybean oil content account for 56% of dry soybeans by weight; the remainder consists of 9 % water and 5 % ash. Soybeans comprise 8% seed coat or hull, 90% cotyledons and 2% hypocotyl axis or germ. 100 grams of raw soybeans supply 446 calories and are 9% water, 30% carbohydrates, 20% total fat and 36% p
