The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-01
THE VELVET BEAN.

OF late years the velvet bean has at
tracted more attention from Southern
farmers than any other ere crop that
know of. 1t has prov led to be all
that was originally claimed for it and
good deal more. 1t is a crop re-
spending readily to good treatment
and at the same time stands much
neglect and yet makes a good yield.
1t has been styled the lazy farmers
crop, in that it can be planted in any
manner of ways and in any kind of
soil and gives good account of itself
at harvest time.
Eight years ago when l grew the
first few hills of velvet beans, l was
astonished a. the results and predi-
Gated then that it would before many
years supplant our much priced cow
pea, but as yet the Northern limit of
latitude in which it can be grown sue
cessfully is a good deal further south
than the coWpea, l believe however
that in a few years it will be grown
much further North than at present
This can be judged from experience
with the cOwpea, the cultivation of
which twenty years ago was not
thought of by the Wisconsin and Mich
igan farmers, because it belonged to
the South, and twenty years hence
believe the velvet bean will be grown
at least as far north as North Carolina
and [ EN- Virginia, for by judicious Sc
lection of the earliest maturing pods
and continuing the process yearly
there is nothing impossible in the sug-
gestion. l have already said that it
would grow and make a crop on any
soil and under any conditions, but
want to qualify that statement by say
ing that like every other crop it re-
spends readily to good treatment and
liberal fertihzing. l have grown it on
land not fortified and made crop,
but l found that where it was fertiliZed
properly, that is to say with proper
quantity and quality of plant food,
that for every dollar invested in fer
tilizers got ten back in the increase
of the crop. The cost of LABOR is the
same on the unfertiliZed as on the
fertilized crop, excepting the small ex-
kpehse for distributing the fertilizer
and working 1t into the soil, say about
50 cents per acre and from the one vCu
will harvest probably ton while from
the other from four to six tons. There
is not Another crop the farmer can
make that will put his soil in the scod
condition for future crops than the vel
vet bean will. 1t opens the pores Sof
the soil, makes it pliable and mellow
and at the same time gathers more nj
tfogen in it's roots for enrichlng the
soil than any other crop not excepting
the cowpea, but as already said it does
best when giving it the proper tIent-
ment at the start. The land must he
put in good shape by good deep Ilow-
ing and 400 to 600 pounds per acre of
the proper grade of fertilizer applied
broadcast and mixed with the soil by
narrowing it in. Beng a nitrogen gath
er phosphoric acid and potash are
the only elements really nee
essary. If our manufacturers
will not put a grade of Fertilizers
suitable to the crop, then we must
use the unmiXed materials to get the
correct composition, we should have
for the velvet beans 10 per cent. ac-
tual potash and per cent. phosphoric
acid. This is one of the crops that
kainit can be used on, but the OBJ
lection to it lies in it's bulkiness, so
we had better use the muriate of pot
ash, which is really the cheapest form
of potash and the best for most crops.
While discussing fertilizers for this
crop. | would like to express my opln-
ion against the frequent practice OF
using phOSphorlc dcld IN excess anu
potash too sparingly, based on the be-
lief that potash be only important to
young plant life, whereas the reverse
is actually the case. because potash
is indispensable and needed by all
plants and in all stages of growth for
the production of starch and sugar
and potash also acts as the motive
power, so to speak. In matured
plant, for instance, rather more pot
ash than nitrogen is found in the
stems. leaves and roots, while phos-
phate predominates in the matured
seed. Again, while phosphate forms
an important part in the composition
of grains, plump, we'll filled out seed
is Impossible with a scanty potash
supply. Commercial fertilizers as
bought on the open market are often
entirely too low in potash as compared
with phosphoric acid, and If these
goods are continually used on the
same land, the excess of phosphoric
acid causes premature ripening and
consequently poor crops How often
do we see, while travelling through the
country in the early summer months,