The Lakeland evening telegram., 1913-12-26
FORAGE CROPS
IN FLORIDA
The Kudzu Vine Equals Alfalfa in
Food Value and Is Well Adapted
to Florida
(By lee Latrobe Bateman.)

The origi nator Of the IDEA to pub
llsh series Of articles on Forage
Cropsin Florida in the columns of
the Florida Grower gave it as his ex-
perience that almost without eXcep-
ton every farmer who came from
the north expressed their regret at
seeing no waving fields OF alfalfa,
and invariably wanted to know the
reason.
The reply to this is as stated in
the first article OF this series name
~, that the growing OF alfalfa in
Florida is still in its experimental
stage, and, moreover, for some reason
or other, not yet fully ascertained,
alfalfa has not proved such a success
III Florida as it has in other sections
of the Union.
But. really, if it is not success
or even il it becomes only moder-
ate one, why trouble at all about al
falfa? | stated then and now re-
iterate that alfalfa is not the only
crop in the world and we have many
other forage crops, the success of
which have been proven, and which
equal, in some instances surpassing,
the value Of alfalfa.
:, The kudzu vine is an example of
this. Botanically known as Puera
ria Thunbergiana, it was for long
time only looked upon as covering
for arbOrs or verandahs. Its quick
growth, from 40 to 60 feet in sin
! gle season, its hardness, and its pro-
fusion of large leaves, established its
popularity as such, coupled to the
fact that although in the north It
) would die to the ground in the win
ter the following spring It would
sprout as vigorously as ever. 1t is a
perennial.
1t is only little more than de
cade since the kudzu vine, as for
age crop, was seriously taken up and
considered. In Florida we are in
debted to Hon, E. b. Eppes, Of Tai
lahassee, and Mr. c. E. Pleas, Of
Chipley, for the first authentic pub
lication of value and merit relative
to this plant, In addition to these
are some published reports on re.
suits Of experiments carried out at
the government experiment station
at Gainesville. An acre was planted
there in 1909 Subsequently it was
proved that although on an occasion
of frost all new growth was cut
down, but little damage was done,
as the plants put out new growth at
once, and in six weeks the vines
were from IL to feet in length.
As matter of fact, it is only a kill
ing frost that will in any way him
der or hamper its growth, and even
this will not njure the plant, which
on the first warm days will soon send
out fresh shoots and grow vigorously
The analysis of the vine made by
the Sta4e chemist Of Florida shows
that ii contains protein 1913 and
starch and sugar 3O20, thus proving
it to be a somewhat richer food than
wheat Iran. AS hay it is as rich
as alfalfa and has distinct adyan-
tage over that crop in being entirely
free from the bloating and laxative
qualities for horses and livestock,
which has often proved serious de-
terrent to the use of alfalfa, except
when mixed with other feed stuffs Of
! counter balancing properties. When
moistened Kudzu hay becomes almost
like fresh foliage again, and hence
makes an excellent green food for
poultry during the winter season.
! Kudzu hay cures in a remarkably
short space of time in fair weather,
requiring but one day before it is
ready for the barn. In the absence
of a barn, the ease with which it
can be cured enables it to be stacked
in the field, and thus avoid hauling
except when actually required.
AS a hay crop in Florida it is
wonder. In a growing season of at
least eight months in the year sew
eral cuttings of hay can be made.
There are known instances OF four
cuttings averaging two and half
tons to the acre per cutting, thus
giving total yield Of ten tons per
acre in a single season.
With Kudzu hay selling easily at
1926 a ton, the net return for one
acre will be over 5000, for cultiva-
tion and harvesting are the only
items Of expense after the first year,
and these would be considerably un-
der $50 an acre The hay Is OF the
,.o.- biohoct nuality enual in every