The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-03-25
THE VELVET BEAN
Bv ]. M. SCOTT.

0S Ss Ne 0OOAAs
The velvet bean is no longer a new
crop for Florida. It has been grown
here for more than thirty years.
However, it received little or no at
tention from the farmers of the
state until about 1898. Prior to that
time It was used mainly as covering
for treIlises and to screen unsightly
places. During the past twelve or
fifteen years It has been grown on a
commercial scale by a goodly num-
Der Of farmers. Many of these
farmers are now growing the velvet
bean on large area for the feeding
5f cattle, hogs and other live stock.
During the last three or four years
the velvet bean has become COM
mercial product. Velvet bean meal
Is now sold by nearly every feed
dealer in the state. The sale of vel
yet bean meal is not limited to Flor
Ida, but is also on sale in feed deal
ers stores in Georgia, Alabama and
Mississippi.
The widespread use of velvet bean
meal has come about during the past
three or four years. Nine years ago
Florida farmers knew of only one
kind of velvet bean, the Florida vel
vet. It is still an important crop
in the state and will likely continue
to be. It has some disadvantages
Perhaps its most serious fault is its
long season necessary for maturity
This is especially true for North and
West Florida. In Central and South
Florida, we rarely have sold enough
TO kill it before maturing. But in
the North and West parts of the
state the yield of seed is often re-
duced' to almost nothing by frosts.
In 1907, the Florida Experiment
Station obtained a small quantity of
seed of the Lyon velvet bean. This
bean has proven to be very salts
factory crop on many Florida farms.
The seed of this bean was obtained
from the Philippine Islands. 1t is a
rank grower, making a ranker
growth of vines and larger leaves
than the Florida velvet. The seed
pods of the Lyon bean are much
larger than the seed pods of the
Florida velvet bean. The seed are
whitish gray in color and are fiat
resembling in shape butter beans
It natures in about the same length
of time as the Florida velvet beans
1t has a rather serious disadvantage
in that the pod cracks open and shat
tiers the seed as soon as mature. Thi:
is Objectionable as the seed scattered
in the soil are nearly all wasted.
The yield of seed per acre from
the Florida and Lyon bean are abou
the same.
The Yokohama velvet bean wa
the next one tried out. It differ
from the Florida velvet and Lyon il
nearly all respects. It does not max
as rank growth of vine. 1t mature
much earlier. Maturing in abou
120 days. The seeds are ashy gra,
in color and not quite so large as tn
Lyon bean seed. The Yokoham
velvet bean produces nearly all o
its pods near the base of the plants
very few being produced out on tn
vine away from the base of tn
plant. One point in it's favor is tina
maturing early it is never injure
by the caterpillars.
The Yokohama velvet bean doe
not yield as much seed per acre a
does the Florida velvet and Lyon.
The Chinese Velvet Bean
The next is the Chinese velve
bean. In general appearance tn
pods resemble those of the Lyon vel
vet bean, excepting they are littl
longer and a trife broader and til
color of the pod is blacker. The habi
of growth is the same as Florida vel
vet and Lyon. If any difference tn
Chinese make larger and ranke
growth of vine and leaves than eithe
the Florida Velvet or Lyon bear
When growing side by side in tn
field, the casual observer would per
haps not distinguish any differenc