EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 247 



SUCCOTASH AS A SOILING CROP. 



R. S. SHAW. 



' Bulletin No. 235. 



There may be some question as to the propriety with which the term 

 succotash is used if the meaning, derived from its origin, is tal<;en into 

 consideration. This word was first applied to a dish used by the North 

 American Indians, consisting of green corn and beans variously com- 

 pounded. In recent years, however, agrimltural and live stock experi- 

 menters have applied this term quite frequently to soiling crops con- 

 sisting of mixtures containing corn, some legume, such as peas or beans 

 and one or more cereals. 



In the pr^oduction of succotash cro])S numerous mixtures have been 

 tried in different parts of the country with greatly varied success. The 

 data hereafter given was secured in an endeavor to produce some satis- 

 factory forage crop rotations for swine, designed to cover the greatest 

 possible portion of the year. The first mixture, grown in 1003, consisted 

 of corn, peas, oats and barley; though this combination produced a large 

 tonnage of green food it made but one crop in the season, as all of the 

 plants in the mixture failed to make a second growth after having been 

 cut or grazed off. With the object of securing a second growth, in the 

 season of 1904 the mixture was changed to the following, viz: corn, peas, 

 oats, rape and millet. This combination was successful in producing 

 a second crop of rape and millet when the first crop was cut with the 

 scvthe. but not when closelv grazed off. Within eight weeks from the 

 time of the first cutting this second crop was nearly knee high, but was 

 mostly rape as the millet could not keep pace with it in growth. The 

 success thus achieved in securing a second crop of rape and millet 

 created the desire to combine some leguminous plant with the rape in 

 place of the millet. As a result the four sowings of the spring of 1905 

 were made up as follows, viz.: corn, peas, oats, rape and clover. On two 

 of these plantings the first crop was so heavy and badly lodged that the 

 clover and rape did not succeed in making a second crop large enough 

 to pay for pasture, but rallied sufficiently to make a good stand late 

 in the fall. The other two sowings formed a thick mat consisting of 

 both clover and rape by October 1st. The object now is to determine 

 whether the rape and clover can be grazed moderately close in the fall 

 and then secure a clover crop for soiling purposes the following spring, 

 thus securing three crops from the one sowing. As it will require two 

 or three seasons more experimenting to secure data relative to the last 

 object sought it was thought best to report on the present progress of 

 the work. 



VALUE OF SUCCOTASH. 



There is now no question in the mind of the writer but that the 1905 

 succotash mixture consisting of corn, peas, oats, rape and clover is an 

 extremely useful combination and that it can be produced as regularly 



