rV e W i OH H 



CiRCULAU Ko. 14— (Agros. 48.) 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



DIVISION OF AGROSTOLOGY. 



[Grass and Forage Plant Investigations.] 



THE VELVET BEAN. 



(Mi(cii)i(i ulilin.) 



The velvet bean lias witliiu the past three or four years attracted a 

 good deal of attention in the Southern States. It is probable that very 

 few forage or other farm plants have spread so rapidly during so short 

 a time. The uniformly favorable reports regarding its value in the 

 South may be taken as an indication of the remarkable interest shown 

 by farmers throughout the laud in the more extended cultivation of 

 leguminous crops. Every one now knows that the legumes, including 

 such plants as the clovers, alfalfa, beggar weed, cowpeas, and velvet bean, 

 are capable of enriching the land on which they are grown because 

 they are fitted by the tubercles on their roots to absorb nitrogen from 

 the air, while other crops, such as the cereals, grasses, sorghum, and 

 sugar cane, must have nitrogen provided for them. Because of this 

 ability to manufacture fertilizers, leguminous crops are of great import- 

 ance in the renovatiou and building up of worn or sterile soils. 



ORIGIN OF THE VELVET BEAN. 



The velvet bean is apparently a native of India and has been in cultiva- 

 tion as an ornamental garden plant ibr a good many years. It is believed 

 to have been first introduced into this country by the Department of 

 Agriculture for this purpose about twenty-five or thirty years ago. In 

 favorable localities it often forms vines 30 to 50 feet in length. It is an 

 excellent i)lant for quickly covering unsightly objects or arbors. The 

 purple flowers are borne in clusters at intervals of 2 or 3 feet at the 

 joints of the stem. These are followed by clusters of short, cylindrical 

 pods, covered with a black, velvety down which has given the name to 

 the plant. Ivach pod contains 3 to (J large, rounded, brown and wliite 

 mottled seeds. The pods are constricted laterally between the seeds 

 and are often more or less curved. 



