Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-03-30
men to let their cows gather the beans in the field.
 Velvet Reaus for HOUS

NeIVct bcdHS TOT f1OSS.
 Velvet beans without the pods are good feed for pigs and hogs of all ages. The pod has too much woody material Hogs fed corn and velvet beans in the pod required more corn to make 100 pounds of gain than hogs fed corn alone. The ground pods re- duced the feed value of both the corn and beans.
 Hogs following mules, horses and cattle in fields of velvet beans eat the beans that the other stock shatter off. Hogs fed beans soaked in the pod make good gains becalse they are able to break open the damp pods and eat the beans only. In run ming hogs with other animals in vel vet bean fields in winter, two hogs can follow each mature mule, horse, steer or COW. Late tin the winter the velvet bean pod lying on the ground becomes soft and the hogs open them and eat the beans.
 Some feeders have had good sue cess in feeding hogs velvet beans and pods ground together, but find that the meal must be very fine The best results have been secured by feeding some corn, tankage, soy beans, pea nuts or milk at the same time.
 At the Louisiana Experiment Sta tion, 73 shotes were turned into a field of velvet beans and corn. They harvested both rrops and made 845 pounds gain per acre of feed.
 Velvet Beans for Hay.
 Velvet beans make rich hay, but it is not practicable in most sea sons to make hay from them. The foliage is very heavy and sappy, and the vines grow 15 to 70 feet in length. making the crop difficult to cure and very hard to handle. It can be done. The yield is two to three tons an acre.
 A few velvet bean growers plant the beans in early corn, gather the corn as soon as it is ripe and before frost kills the vines, cut corn stalks and vines together and cure them in- to hay.
 Saving Velvet Bean Seed.
 Before frost the velvet bean grow CT should go through the field and gather for seed the pods that are ripe. The pods should be thoroughly dried, in the sun if possible, and then be stored in a dry, well-ventilated place, where they will not become damp, moldy or start the slightest decay.
 Practically all the velvet bean seed that has been planted in Arkansas was grown in Alabama and Georgia, most of it in the southern part of these states. It is impossible to get full yields of corn in Arkansas from seed raised where our seed velvet beans are grown. The greater returns from velvet beans in this state will not be secured until homegrown seed is planted and each county should pro- duce the seed planted by it's farmers. The selection of home grown seed should be started in the fall of 1919 on every farm.
 Small cowpea threshers are now made that hull the velvet beans for seed. Where a small quantity of seed only is needed, the thoroughly dried pods may be exposed for 8 day in midwinter to the sun. This should be done when the weather is cold and dry. The beans can then be threshed out with flail. Two men will fresh out 10 bushels day, enough to plant 60 to 100 acres.
 Harvesting Velvet Beans for Feed.
 Velvet beans make such tangled mass that the only way to harvest the pods is to gather them by hand. A good picker will gather in day 300 to 400 pounds of Early Speckled pods and 600 to 700 pounds of the pods of the Osceola. It pays to plant that part of the field that is to be gathered by hand with the Osceola variety, because the pods are twice the size of the Early Speckled and it costs only half as much to harvest them.
 It does not pay to pick closely. Gather all the pods that are easy to get and turn stock into the field to harvest the rest. Before the Euro- pean war, when farm labor was cheap, it cost 12 1-2 to 25 cents a hundred to hire velvet bean pods pick ed. Prices have doubled the past two years. Farmers will have to pay for picking enough per hundred pounds to make the work bring the laborers as much daily as he can earn at that time of year doing other farm work
 Gather the pods when they are dry and the beans ripe. Dry the pods in the sun if convenient and store them in a dry, we'll ventilated place. When first stored, shovel them over ire quently to expose them to the air and to prevent heating or molding.
 It will pay to gather enough pods to furnish at least part of the feed for the work animals and pigs thru the spring and summer and to feed in the winter during storms and when the fields are muddy.
 Why Not Before!
 Men often ask why it is if velvet beans are so profitable. large acre. age has not been grown in previous years. Varieties that will mature in Arkansas were not discovered until 1906 and 1908, and Were not distrib- uted in any considerable quantity un-