The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1916-12-01
MOST VALUABLE CROP
Velvet Beans Thrive on Thin Soils
of Southern States.
In Many Places II Is Being Used Al
most as Much as Reliable cowpea
Ideal Crop for Furnishing
Organic Matter.

The velvet bean cannot be compared
with the cowpea for northern plant
ing, but in this state, In Florida, North
Carolina and other southern sections
It furnishes a very valuable forage and
grows welltbn thin soils.
have seen fields of these beans in
Florida where the vines had made a
growth Of from Is to 40 inches, and
In some fields yielded 20 bushels Of
the beans per acre. They have lik-
Ing for moist, hot weather. and grow
well In sandy and welLdrained fields,
says Georgia writer In Farm Pro-
gress. 1t seems to be valuable crop
in most of the cotton states, and In
many places is being used almost as
much as the old reliable cowpea.
The velvet bean belongs to the great
and valuable family Of legumes and
their chief value lies In the fact that
they make an ideal crop for turning
under, thus enrichlng the soil and CIV
ing necessary organic matter.
plant them in about the same way
as cowpeas. Some seasons | plant
them between the corn rows, where
they may be hogged down after the
corn Is cut. Three to four Of the
beans should be planted In a hill. AS
a rule, | put them on the very poorest
ground have, and after pasturing
them / pillow them under.
Hogs and cattle do wonderfully well
on the beans. The leaves, filaments
ase pods make a fine grazing for cat
tie. In pasturing cattle on them II is
necessary to watch the animals, and
see that they do not gorge themselves.
This is likely TO happen the first day
they are turned on such luxurious pas
ture.
For hogging down they are very sat
isfactory. They are stuffed with lpro-
;teins, and hogs fatten very steadily.
j use them to help In fitting the hogs
for the fattening pens, 1t is cheaper to
start the fattening process by means
Of the behns than on corn at prevail
ing prices.
1T seems to me that the greatest
value Of the velvet bean lies In its
power to build up worn-down soils.
The roots, stems, the leaves and the
rootlets Of the plant help to hold hill
side soils together under the rains of
winter. They make very. good cover
crop in the cotton-growing sections.
The velvet bean seems to besa sort
Of semitroplcal legume. and has never
been of much value in the northern,
states. u must have hot suns to make
q good growth. and seems to do better
in such moist climates as that OF Flor
ida. The vines are sometimes moved
and an acre will yield three or four
tons Of fairly good hay. The tropical
nature OF the velvet bean. and the
shortRess OF the seasons. prevents Its
maturing seed very far nprth OF the
Gulf ATTITUDES.
Most OF the seed Is procured In Flor
ida. About IS pounds Of seed per acre
win be needed. This is a little more
than one and a half pecks. The price
per bushel for frst.class seed has al
ways been very low in comparison with
cowpea seed have never paid more
tiRan S1.50 a busheL
In this locality a good many acres
OF the velvet bean have been planted
this year. We have found that Ia the
months 81 December and January
period when forage is usually rather
scarce. thess zines win make very good
graxisg for hogs and cattle II has
been estimated that when turned un-
der an acre Of velvet beans Is worth
frum S. to s15 to the land.