The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1899-02-03
THE FLORIDA VELVET BEAN.


Orlando, fh., Jan. ~, lr2e.
Editor Democrat. Star.
AS am receiving so many letters
OF inquiry from among your readers
about the Florida Velvet bean, and
being unable to answer each one sepa.
rately, l would like to reply through
the columns Of your valuable and
widely real paper.
l have been asked so many times by
the people from all over the country
to give them the origin OF this marve-
lous and most wonderful forage and
fertilizing plant and from what conn-
try it came. l will answer by saying
that its presence here In Florida can
be traced back twenty-five years or
more, and it has, until recently, been
known among the common penple as
''thc climber From weight 0f evil
dence l unhesitatingly give Florida
credit VI being its original home.
During the past year the writer in.
tr0duccd this little wonder In almost
every civilized country on the globe,
and crop from the seed sent has
been grown the present season, but
from reports received it still remains
q stranger to all. No one so far as
heard from claims to know anything
about II. The celebrated Kew gar
dens, London. grew it the present sea-
son as a curiosity. Its vigor11s
growth and wealth Of foliage and vine
attracted wide and universal atten-
tion. Three thousand people in Eng.
land grew. IL the present~scasnn. Ev-
cry State lin the American Union is
putting IL tn the test. From q food
Of letters received | learn that from
late planting and early frost the seed
,is not maturing in all sections OF our
c0untry, but As successful feed, for.
age and fertilizing crop. it has moth
ing but praise from every quarter, and
condemnation from none.
Our government at Washington,
recognizing It's great value to the
country at large, bought car load OF
seed Of the writer last July for gener-
al distributisn to the various States
OF our Union.
This bean IL marvelously prolific in
every way. A bushel OF seed will
drill an acre. An average acre will
produce thirty or more bushels Of
seed. To cure the forage grown on it
rs dry feed, 1t will easily yield four
tons. From near the hill the vine
throws ont hterals ten to thirty feet
like the watermelon. Pods in clusters
Of from two tO thirty appear, like the
raisin grape, the entire length Of the
vines. Its foliage and vine at its best
during growth will cover the ground
sOlidly up to your armpits. All stock
eat the green or cured vine. and dry
bean, with greediness. After pods
are formed tOn vines two or three
head OF cattle may be pastured on an
acre OF the growing crop without ma
terial injury TO fruitage. At this
stage stock will only eat leaf and vine,
leaving green pnds undlsturbed. The
velvet Is an annual and should be
planted early In spring. In rows four
feet apart. dropping seed Ia drill rows
three or four inches apart, and cover
ing about three inches deep. When
bean is up large enough to work run
through with cultivatOr until vines
dill row, then lay by.
When 1t is pussible IL Is better to
give the growing vine support, keep
ing pods of the ground, thus largely
increasing the fruitage. This can be
done by mixing corn with the bean
seed, and vine will climb stalk, giving
desired support. Don't expect a corn
cr0p-vine will swamp II.
The velvet can only he shellcd when
pods are csisp dry. The best home
plan to shell them is, to place pods In
IA bag, and pound them with blud-
geOn. A strong man will pound out
five or six bushels a day. We, here,
have better way. We havea Velvet
Bean Sheller--a two men machine
that will thrash and clean five or six
bushels an hour. In picking your
beans don't pile large quantities to-
gether for fear OF heat and mould. A
scaffold is best.
In habit the velvet Is a natural
andi II given something t0
run up twill climb from fifty to
sixty feet. blooming and fruiting at
intervals all the way up. affording a
novel and most wonderful sight to
look upon.
II has become staple crop with us
here in Florida. From ten to eighty
acres IS being sown by many persons
here the present season. The leaf,
vine and fruit, fills every want on the
farm. All stock like 1t and eat it
ravenously. AS an all-around feed,
fertilizer and up-builder Of poor or
over-worked land. it is simply without
a rival.
Any further information will be
cheerfully given II desired.
CAPT. E. A. WILSON. :
N. B.-Acc0mpanying the above
letter full developed Velvet Bean
was inclosed which can be seen by any
Of our truck farmers by calling at the