Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1917-02-28
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y. VELVET I}EAN Ms. 30
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Editor Keoweo Courier: have
been asked by number OF friends to
give my experience in the cultivation
Of velvet beans.
The first thing | did was to select
one acre Of black loan soil that would
make one bale Of cotton an acre, and
applied five hundred pounds Of
high grade commercial fertilizer.
broke the land with a two-h0rse
turning plow, about six inches deep.
and narrowed ground thoroughly two
or three times. Laid Off rows as for
corn. ) " feet wide, with two-horse
turning plow. Applied seven two
horse loads of barnyard manure per
acre, in the drill, and then with Cole
distributor put two hundred pounds
OF guanO in furrOw with manure and
Subsoilcd two inches deeper in bot
tom Of furrOws, and planted corn
with John Deere planter IS inches in
drill
When corn was coming up laid
off furrOw in middles with one-horse
turning plow and ridgcd to the fur
row. About the goth of April I
straddled corn with two-horsc SPRING
tooth cultivator and filed furrow
about half full Of soil. On the 10th
Of May planted velvet beans be-
tween the hills OF corn, dropping two
to three beans to the hill. Covered
beans with 'two-horse spring tooth
cultivator. cultivating corn at same
time. cribs cultivator rultivateS one
row at Il time. | made it myself by
combining two side cultivatOrs. using
% spring teeth: also cultivated cot
ton with same thing, three times. 1t
,yI, l,l, ,,J
As soon rs the beans were about
six inches high cultivated as | did
in the first and second plown.s Of
corn. ! cultivated them twice more
with 30-inch heel sweep. laying-by
the corn.
About the 18th OF July the beans
were putting on young pods. and |
stopped cultivation. From one acre
gathered 100 pounds Of dried
beans in hull
Beans began maturing the last OF
August, and had another acre that
would hav" made about the same
amount. but cut this and fed to
horses. COWS and hogs by cutting
down cornStalks and feeding them
whole.
My corn from the land on which
beans were planted was IA great deal
better than where there were not any
beans planted.
thrcShcd s bushels Of beans with
an ordinary pea thrcShcr. which was
operated with Il ;!-horsc engine. Also
thrcShcd several bushels with Il stick
| have sold about So worth OF
beans from this acre, and had 1000
pounds OF beans crushed hull and
all. and feed it to hogs and COWS in
:.
than corn when they become accus-
toned to eating it.
When bean pods began to ripen at
bottom or stalk | cut the top out 0!
the corn. by this method it will
make twice as much roughness as by
pulling the fodder. When hottom
beans began to ripcn. the corn began
10 cure about the same time.
There are 4 great many varieties
OF velvet beans on the market. but
only ono variety that is suitable to
our climate. and that is the 90-day
specified improved. II YOU wish Il
success try to get seed as far north
rs possible. and they will mature
much earlier. 4 bean grown in South
Georgia and Florida is later about
maturing. For this reason it is bet
ter to get beans grown farther north
for planting in this latitude.
These beans are Il great soil build
cr and stock food. On the roots are
found hundreds OF nodules. that store
up and later furnish nitrogen to the
soil
4 good plan to use in planting and
for cutting and shreddng this bean
is plant in three-foot rows with or
angc cane about the 18th OF April.
You can cut and shred this before
the other crops are ready to gather.
I'm not advertising these beans for
sale. for have sold all the seed had
to sell. r. ID. Mcdonald.
Westminster, r. T.. ID.